Infected
by Stranger-of-the-void
Summary: After the battle with Pitch the guardians are back at work, happy and recovered. What they didn't know was that not every of Pitch's traces where gone. When Bunnymund's new found feelings start up an unpredicteable chain of events which could destroy Jack he is shocked to his core. Will he be able to overcome himself and save Jack before it's too late? SLASH, M/M, ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there readers!**

**Well, a few of you might know me already...**

**I'm sorry that it isn't something new for "I'm not a kid anymore", but don't worry,**

**I didn't drop it, I still plan to finish that story.**

**Anyway, this is the first part of my now newest story to 'Rise of the Guardians' !**

**I have waited a long time to watch this movie and was recently finally able to.**

**( it took a while to appear in Germany -_- )**

**And damn, I love this movie, I can only recommend to watch it!**

**Like I had feared I couldn't help but start to ship Bunny x Jack, so, yeah...**

**Got this idea for a fic, wrote it, here is it- at least the first part.**

**So, won't stop you any longer...Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians, otherwise Bunny and Jack would have kissed at the end in front of a cheesy sunset xD**

**Warning: Well, aside from this being SLASH ( MxM)...it's no AU, Bunny is still a bunny, mature stuff, violence, sexual content yadda yadda...**

It was a beautiful day down in the warren. The sun shone through in golden brightness through the end of the magic tunnels leading to places which had sunshine, making the green, peaceful place glow softly. A gentle breeze blew through, softly twirling Bunnymund's gray fur, making him sigh in content while he sat on a hill. His green eyes swept over the both rocky and grassy landscape, seeing everything, from his trusty warrior eggs silently resting in the folds of the hills to the tiny eggs. "Let's see how my little eggs are doing", he said to himself content and hopped down to control the future, to be painted Easter eggs. After all he was the Easter bunny and had to make sure his eggs grew well into proper ones, that they were protected and no danger there to break their shell.

They were 'born' from nothing else then the ground, from the earth, where the grass grew specially green and soft, plopping out where the big mother eggs lay underneath. It wasn't that easy, you couldn't just pluck them out like ordinary plants, no, you had to coax them out by tending them with soft spoken words, the right amount of sunshine and the magic water of the spring in the warren. This water was really special, filled to the brim with life, fertility and magic, pulsing with pure, well, hope- it was probably the only water which you could drink and then say it tasted like hope, like real, true hope, lighting up your heart. You had to drink it to properly understand. The rabbit wandered down the curvy ways down the hills into the more flat parts of his home, passing blooming flowers and bigger trees.

It felt so great to be at home, doing his work, the work which laid in his blood and was part of him. After the great battle with Pitch they had all needed the usual routine back, relaxing them and helping them to calm down after all the gruesome things they had experienced. And blimey, did it feel good! For him, there was nothing more better and beautiful than to take care of all the Easter preparations, just like it was for North his Christmas work, giving good dreams for Sandy, collecting teeth for Thoothiana and for Jack...His mind stumbled over the thought name, involuntarily wondering what the white haired guardian was up to. He still wasn't really used to the thought that he was the new guardian. It had surprised him how quickly he had grown accustomed to his presence, even with his annoying behavior and generally being a impulsive brat with powers bigger than it was sometimes safe for him- or others who got targeted by him as a result.

It had felt weird, that despite all their bickering they had still managed to fight side by side so naturally, almost to the point that it kind of crept him out. _/Ugh, why am I even thinking about that brat?_ _I don't really care what he is doing right now, as long as he leaves me alone.../ _That was only halfway true. Although Bunnymund was more of a loner and didn't really like to socialize much with others he had found himself to be quite enjoying the company of the other guardians. It had been so long since they had last met that he had almost forgotten how it good it could feel to talk with North, chat a little with Thoothiana and enjoy Sandy's quiet calmness. But with Jack...it was a simple disaster. The teenager was everything but calm, he was wild, uncontrollable, mischievous and all in all a laughing, over active pain in the ass.

But worse, although he always told himself to not get so quickly pulled into the younger male's games and challenges he could never resist. He couldn't really explain, but somehow he never felt as alive as at the moments he fought with Jack. Him, the Easter bunny, fighting with an still immature young freshly baked guardian, the same who had so childishly ruined his Easter on 68' and even enjoying it ! Every time they met the winter spirit somehow managed to get under the rabbit's fur, obviously loving it to press him into playing with him or pester the hell out of him until he snapped and really got pissed off. But lately...there was something with being in his presence that made Bunnymund feel somehow uneasy, something which had definitely not been like that before. Somehow he couldn't just stand it anymore, it felt strangely uncomfortable, a feeling reeling between pleasure and torture.

He couldn't stand being close to him and yet he wanted to come closer at the same moment. He found himself following Jack's movements like he was mesmerized, seeing things he hadn't noticed before, details which continued to haunt his mind for ages after seeing them and thinking over them like an enigma. It was a feeling he hadn't had for ages, centuries, a familiar feeling burning under his skin, pulsing with a mind of it's own. It had hit him like a blind person suddenly seeing when he realized what this aching, this tightening, the racing of his heart in his chest meant. And the moment he realized it he immediately freaked out, locking it away inside his mind, hoping it would disappear after a few days of avoiding the cause of his problem. He didn't want to see all these things, these feelings, didn't want them, didn't need them. And yet, no matter how much he struggled he was unable to resist them, these feelings made of his own affection which had slowly grown without him knowing.

They had already taken their root inside him, growing and spreading, and before he had noticed it it was already too late. And it practically ripped him apart from the inside, this both sweet and sharp yearning and the desire to be close- and yet knowing he could never be. It hurt to suppress it, his mind fought against itself, wanting and despair burning inside, but he couldn't let it out. He hated this, feeling so helpless and utterly struck, and it drove him mad. But what choice did he have? All he could do was to keep himself under control, to act like nothing changed, to suppress these frail yet strong feelings until he was able to forget it eventually, to keep a distance from him. And that was why he really needed the peace, to calm down and relax a little after all this trouble, to get his mind clear and just work, work, work and work. He didn't want to think about this feelings, this painful, thumping yearning inside him which almost drove him up against the wall. He really just wanted to have his peace, down here in his familiar warren and be alone.

Looking around he let his eyes wander once more, taking a deep breath of the fresh air. "It really is peaceful", he murmured and closed his eyes to feel the warmth, twitching surprised when something tiny and cold fell onto his nose, having melted and disappeared in the next moment. "Huh?", he looked around, now on alert, eyes narrowed before they widened slightly. Wait, cold? That was the only warning he got, because in the next moment something really cold and hard flew against his head, effectively making him stumble and nearly fall. "What the-", bright, familiar laughter rang in the warm air, making his ears twitch in annoyance while inwardly he cursed, his heart skipped a beat and his skin tingled pleasantly- unpleasantly, growling he spun into it's source direction and yelled: "FROSTBITE!"

Why, why was HE here now?! From all people which could have visited him it had to be the one he wanted to see the least! Another snowball flew at him, hitting his side and making him hiss: "Come out you little snotty bugger and I'll teach you some manners!" "Sure, kangaroo, that is, if you can catch me", Jack's voice sing sang from not far away, followed by another snowball which hit the rabbit on his chest, making his patience rip. "Okay, that's it you ice midget!" He quickly dodged the next snowball and darted into the direction of the throw, racing after the winter spirit who waited just till he was close enough, before jumping to another tree with laughter, quickly disappearing out of sight. But Bunnymund wasn't a pookah for nothing.

He was fast, faster then anything else on earth ( he had to- try to escape from a bunch of an Easter-mad bunch of children without getting your tail ripped off was not as easy as it sounded. How they could be so fast was a mystery to him, though he secretly blamed it on the sugar high and extreme hyper activity). So he pushed forward, fueled on by his incredible strong legs, following the sound of laughter, ignoring the voice in the back of his mind which told him it was probably wiser to not go. He was way too annoyed by now, because even with all these emotional stuff the younger guardian still annoyed the hell out of him. The white haired teenager was fast, too, close, but never close enough for Bunnymund to catch him. He may not be faster than the rabbit, but he was very agile, using tiny turns and slips to escape the furious' Easter bunny's grab and jump onto the next tree, throwing him a mocking smile, clearly challenging before escaping to the world over them through one of the tunnels.

They raced under the bright moon, illuminating their chase while they ran through the snow covered land, Jack always a bit ahead of the Easter guardian. "Is that all you got, kangaraoo?", he mocked, swinging to another branch before the rabbit could grab him and continued to jump forward. "So it was just a little lie when you said it is better to never race a rabbit?" The winter spirit, crouching on a higher branch, grinned down at him while the rabbit stared up at him, twitching inwardly when that familiar feeling came up again. The moon light shone around Jack's head, making his white hair glow softly while his blue eyes twinkled with mischief, his mouth twitched before blooming into that familiar smile the older male had grown so accustomed to. For a few seconds he was unable to think of anything else, lost in the sight in front of him while his chest tightened painfully. "Hey, wake up sleepyhead! Didn't you want to teach me a good lesson? Or got your feet frozen to the ground?" Jack asked, face upside down and right in front of Bunnymund who jerked back, caught off guard for a second before he regained his composure and lunged forward, missing his hair just by an inch.

" 'Course I will, just wait till I have you!", Bunnymund threatened, inwardly panicking. Did he see anything? Had he noticed anything in his face? In his eyes? Had anything given away his cover, his strange feelings? A snowball flew past his ear, followed by a laugh, and he sighed quietly, shaking himself he followed him quickly. But even while chasing him he couldn't stop this strange feeling constricting his chest, pressing on the back of his head with force. His eyes followed Jack while chasing him and god, he was so beautiful. The way he ran ahead of him, practically dancing across the ground, his bare feet making almost no sound while he almost flowed over everything. The way his lithe body moved, so weightless and smoothly and so fast. The way his face practically lit up every time he smiled. His blue eyes, as blue as the arctic sky, frosty- but, strangely, at the same time, as blue as the sky on a warm Easter Sunday, so full of life.

His white hair, pure white, without a speck of other colors, glowing softly in the moon light, his whole appearance made him feel like he was chasing a ghost sometimes. Still, he couldn't let himself get distracted, he couldn't allow himself to let anything slip through. He had to play along – apart from that the brat really needed some punishment. Bunnymund raced after him, determined to teach the little nag a lessons, suppressing the strange feeling, and grabbed some egg bombs before he slowed, pretending to be out of breath. "Ooh, what's that? Already giving up kangaroo?", Jack called, chuckling, lowering himself on the branch of a tree just out of the rabbit's reach- or at least he thought so. "Far from frostbite", Bunnymund grinned, just having waited for the younger guardian to come close enough. In the next second Jack, having balanced on the branch, stumbled backwards with a shrill yell, face full of blue and violet, falling into the snow underneath the tree with wildly flailing limbs, just what the bunny had wanted.

With a mighty jump he catapulted himself at Jack, landing on top of the young spirit who wheezed in surprise, immediately trying to shake him off. Both guardians rolled around on the snow covered ground, trying to gain the upper hand until Jack managed to twist away and get on his feet, glaring at the smirking rabbit who could barely suppress his chuckling. "You'll regret this!", he warned, swinging his staff threateningly- though he couldn't hide his grin- before he formed another snowball in his hand, throwing it into the chuckling rabbit's face who immediately stopped laughing while cursing, sending back another egg bomb. It hit Jack's shoulder in a burst of green and red, making him stumble before he counter attacked fast, snow mixing with colors, a wild fight with eggs and snowballs which went on for quite a good while.

"Wheee, that was fun!", Jack exclaimed and let himself plop down onto the now very colorful ground, grinning at the annoyed rabbit who sat on the ground not far away from him, glaring back before he snorted: "Yeah, sure, frostbite. Do you really have nothing else to do then to annoy the hell out of me? Aren't there any places waiting for snow? I need to prepare the eggs for Easter!" "Calm down mate, it's only January so far! You still got loads of time, so don't get a knot in your panties". "In my- okay, it really seems like you got NO idea how much I have to do for Easter! And even if you had, you probably still would have ruined Easter like in 68' !", the rabbit ranted, feeling his eye twitch. There he was at it again, driving him mad without the slightest effort, a dangerously explosive mix with his narrowly suppressed feelings. The bunny gritted his teeth and stood up, shaking some of the snow of his fur which was also slightly more colorful than usually. It was better if he left the teenager quickly- he didn't know if he could stand being any longer in his presence. "Ah, man, you are such a kill joy", the snow spirit sighed and went up as well, pouting at him while crossing his arms behind his head.

The guardian of hope immediately turned his eyes away, sucking in a breath to control himself, grumbling: "Well, whatever, snow flake, now go and play alone or freeze someone up, I don't care. I still got stuff to do, besides from first cleaning up my fur thanks to your silly game of chase! Not to mention I'm starting to feel col-" His words were interrupted by an excited call from Jack, and before he knew a cool hand grabbed his left arm and yanked him into the other direction. "What the hell?! What do you want frostbite? I already told you I still got things to do!", he growled, wanting nothing more then to flee back into his safe warren and jerked his hand free. The winter spirit rolled his blue eyes before he grinned and pointed out excited:" Look there!" "What? I don't see anything special!" "There!"

The rabbit narrowed his eyes and stared, finally noticing what Jack was pointing at, wondering at the same moment how he could not see something that obvious- well, maybe not that obvious. A few meters away something shone and glowed darkly in the moon light, white steam rising up and around from it. A hot spring. Staring at it for a moment he turned around, his eyes widening when he saw Jack pulling on his hoodie. "Wait, what are you doing?!" The teenager rolled his eyes again and looked at Bunnymund like he was stupid: "Stripping of course! I wanna take a bath in that spring, and I don't want my clothes to get dripping wet." He carefully laid his staff onto the ground, close to the spring before proceeding to take off his hoodie, which made the rabbit immediately turn around, his heart throbbing rather erratically while he swallowed and heat crawled into his cheeks.

This idiotic brat, simply stripping in front of him- "God, don't be such a prude, kangaraoo!", Jack snorted and pulled his pants off, Bunnymund could tell it by the rustling behind him while he frantically tried to not imagine how the other one looked like without them, followed by splashing and a content sigh."You can look now, I'm in the water", the winter spirit mocked, purposely splashing some water at the rabbit who twitched and hissed: "Leave me alone, brat! You can go and have your fun there alone, I need to work-" "Pussy. Who'd thought the Easter kangaraoo is afraid of a little water?" The rabbit twitched, gritting his teeth he spun around, glaring at Jack who grinned at him from the spring, blue eyes twinkling challengingly, almost distracting the older male before he shook himself, forcing himself to look away before he started staring at him more closely: "Just to let you know, I'm NOT afraid of a little water, I just need the time for better things to do instead of fooling around-" he turned around, fully intended on opening up a hole home to his warren, but just when he lifted his left foot he heard a sizzling sound and the earth underneath him froze as smooth as glass.

"What the- bloody hell!" His feet started slipping, stumbling backwards he tried to gain his balance back without use before he fell with a yell, right into the steaming spring. The temperature was the total opposite to the freezing cold outside , shocking him for a moment while he struggled to swim. His eyes shut tight, he flailed around wildly before his instinct kicked in and he pushed himself up, breaking through the water surface with a gasp and sucking in the air greedily before he turned around to the laughing behind his back. "You stupid, brainless little brat, what was that for?! I could have drowned!", he spit furiously, carefully trying to get a hold of the edge, slightly afraid of getting under water again- not that he'd ever admit that. "Come on, don't be so mean! I just wanted you to take a nice, relaxing bath as well, that's all. The water's not that deep, so don't worry. And since you didn't want to I had to 'convince' you to", Jack grinned, leaning back while watching the rabbit amused, who glared at him: "I told you, I still have work to do! I don't have time for a stupid bath an-"

"Weren't you the one who said you needed to clean your fur? Plus, it was kind of obvious that you were starting to freeze a little. I'm only doing you a favor", the winter spirit countered. Bunnymund, who had already opened his mouth to lash out again closed it, growling because he knew the other guardian was right. "Oh, fine! I'll stay a while! But only a while!" Giving up the bunny slowly leaned back carefully, making sure he stayed away as far as possible from Jack, wanting to avoid any body contact at all costs. Grumbling under his breath he breathed in slowly and rubbed a wet paw over his face, wondering why in the Easter's name he always ended up in situations like that. Though he didn't like to admit it Jack was right, it did feel good. The hot water had first felt shockingly hot, but after a few minutes he slowly got used to it and started to relax, the warmth was like balm for him, muscles unwinding which he hadn't even noticed were strained. Breathing out slowly he let his head sink back a little, sighing softly while his eyes closed half way, feeling how several knots in his body popped open, unwinding slowly and leaving his body pleasantly slack and relaxed.

Damn, he had almost forgotten how good it could feel to relax once in a while, though a hot spring wouldn't have been his first choice for that. It felt great. Screw that, it felt fucking great. He had chased the white haired around the whole time before they had stopped, and even with his fur he could still freeze, but now he felt wonderful hot and relaxed. He wasn't used to stay out that long in the cold like Jack, but heck, he was a winter spirit, so no big surprise. Which abruptly reminded him of who exactly was sitting across from him. Oh blimey. His eyes, halfway closed, snapped open again while he tensed up slightly before forcing him to relax again. It worked, his body relaxed again without causing too much waves in the calm water- except his stupid heart, because now it was thumping rather erratic again in his chest. He shouldn't, no, he shouldn't, no, he shouldn't- unable to resist any longer he turned his head, his green eyes flickering over to Jack who had been unnaturally quiet, eying him carefully. The winter spirit had leaned his head back, looking totally relaxed and calm with his closed eyes, for once not whirling around and being active like Bunnymund was so used to.

The rabbit's eyes slowly wandered over his face, almost hesitant to fully look at him, once, twice, trice, he tried to look away but couldn't, so he took in all the little details. Jack's white hair shone softly in the moonlight, the tips of it slightly curled against his cheeks and neck due the wetness, his eyelashes formed a delicate arch, an ink black in contrast to his hair. His eyebrows were softly arched, relaxed, his lips closed and forming a soft smile, mirroring his calmness. Green eyes continued to wander, fascinated by the way his pale skin looked like. He had secretly watched him so often that he, if he had been asked to paint Jack, would immediately whip up a palette of his colors without even thinking about it. Only winter colors, that icy yet warm winter/spring blue for his eyes, a darker, royal blue for his hoodie, beige, umbra of all kinds for his pants and staff, snow white, silver, gray, black for his hair, pale pink, creamy white for his skin...Jack's skin was normally pale, a creamy color, with a tinge, only a tinge of the palest pink, almost- almost translucent- that pink some of his favorite flowers had when they started to bloom in his warren. And blue, a light, light blue, so gently that it was almost invisible on his skin, that blue you could see in the snow's shadow if you squinted your eyes just enough, like a breathy lover's kiss.

The normal paleness was still there, but now there was a delicate redness laying over it from the hot water. It emphasized it's paleness rather than hiding it, just like a scarf of silk and just made him even more beautiful, glowing milky soft in the moonlight. Breathing in his eyes followed a water drop which shimmered on his arched neck, silvery, rolling down his smooth chest, right over one of his nipples which were only a hint darker than his skin. He then stared at the neck, so white and untouched, the slender form of his chest, his lean arms, remembering what powers in this thin and slender body resided, the thought sent a shudder down his spine. Jack must have felt his look lingering because in the next moment he saw into brilliant blue eyes, looking at him open and a bit mischievous before the winter spirit cocked his head and asked half curious, half mockingly: "What 's the matter, kangaroo? Is the water too hot for you?" The guardian of hope growled, replying sourly: "I'm not a kangaroo frostbite! And shouldn't the water be too hot rather for you then for me?"

"Well...", the immortal teenager rolled his neck, stretching his arms with obvious pleasure, then he turned around until his back faced Bunnymund, forming a tempting arch, pulling himself halfway out of the water to prop himself up. "One could think that I'd avoid heat or warmth at all costs, but why? I'm a winter spirit, and it's true that I feel the most comfortable in the cold, my element, but that doesn't mean I don't- can't enjoy some nice, hot water for a good while or simple warmth. I'm not a snow flake, it's not like I'll melt as soon as it gets warmer!", he laughed, looking over his shoulder at the older guardian with a grin. The rabbit was quiet, surprised, thinking about this new information which distracted him a bit from looking at Jack's wet and milky, exposed back glowing in the moonlight. He wasn't able to ponder about it for long, though, because in the next moment the teenager called, demanding his attention: "Hey bunny, come over here!" "What, why should I?" "Oh, just come over here, I won't do anything mean to you", the white haired rolled his eyes, grinning when the rabbit threw him a glare and carefully came over to his side, holding a certain distance to make sure he wasn't too close.

"So, what do you want snow flake?", he grumbled, silently cursing his heart wouldn't thump like that. Jack simply reached out with one slender, wet arm and pointed at the dark sky. "Look", he slowly said in a soft tone, blue eyes twinkling in the moonlight, "Isn't this beautiful?" Bunnymund followed his arm and looked up, eyes widening slightly at the sight above him. He had been so absorbed into his problem, work and that stuff that he hadn't thought once about looking up while relaxing in the hot spring, but now...Over them the dark sky was there, littered with thousand of stars in graceful curves and strange constellations, but nevertheless fascinating to look at, their silver shining even brighter on the velvet black and blue of the night sky, the moon it's center and glowing like the lamp on a dark lake. Beautiful. Both males looked at the stars, silent for a while, then Bunnymund opened his mouth, murmuring slowly: "Yes. Beautiful...", before he looked at Jack who just looked back in the same moment, their eyes meeting, interlacing while he stared into that brilliant blue. For a moment he thought he saw something inside them, something like a pale shadow, gray, darkening them for the split of a second before Jack abruptly broke their eye contact, looking up again quickly, both males looked back at the starry sky arching over them. "Beautiful...".

**So, how did you like it?**

**I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but well...**

**I see it as some kind of sample ( just like I already did once), **

**to test the waters, you know?**

**If you think it's horrible I won't continue, if not, then I'll try to write more.**

**Just tell me what you think about it and so on...**

**Your author Kamo-chan**

**REVIEWS PLEASE!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi there guys!**

**Whoa, I finally did it. I freaking finished Chapter 2 !**

**Dammit I'm so happy to have it ready now, at last- and I'm really tired now, too xD**

**But, whatever, to cut a long story short, here is it!**

**I hope the length is a little compensation for the long wait, **

**it is roughly twice as long as the first.**

**So, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or any characters of it, otherwise Jack would have moved in with Bunny at the end of the film and marry him with the other guardians as guests and a little egg as the groomsman...**

The wind was blowing like always, cold and hard, but underneath, unhearable for normal people it whispered softly, a gentle sound. It curved around, whirling through the ice and snow covered landscape with snow mountains, calling, a melodious wake up song. Underneath the surface, in a light flooded cave, hidden away from curious looks , a lean figure, curled up in a ball, was laying in a dell of snow, moving occasionally and still dreaming. But the sleeper's face wasn't relaxed, instead it was tensed up slightly, his body twitching and moving around uneasily, his lips opened slightly forming words which went unheard. "Ah!" With a gasp he shot up, icy blue eyes wide open and cloudy, wandering around for a moment before they had sharpened, seeing the familiar surrounding. Jack closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, groaning softly before he slowly stood up and grabbed his staff, staring at the white snow wall for a moment before he noticed the wind calling.

Quickly he jumped up light footed, to the surface, which was a softly curved snow hill where he took a deep breath of the icy air and let the wind stroke over his cheek, whispering to him in his own language. "Good morning", he murmured as a reply and smiled weakly before sitting down onto the soft snow and stared at the blue arctic sky. Normally the familiar sight always managed to calm him down after something rough, but not today, making him sigh out loud in both annoyance and desperation. Though it was not like he wasn't used to this by now- it had happened more than once, more often than he liked. So he simply tried to breath slowly, steadily, to calm down his thumping heart inside his chest while he stared into the sky and tried to listen to the whisper song of the wind.

It was not like it had been a bad dream, but...pictures, fleeting memories of the dream flashed behind his eyes and he felt a blush creeping up under his skin while ice started to flock everywhere on his body. Oh, great. Just what he needed. "Pull yourself together Jack!", he told himself and slapped his cheeks emphatically, but now that he had started to remember it he couldn't stop the memories from spilling into his mind. Feelings of being content, bright light shining upon him, grass, not snow underneath his feet, tickling them, the warmth of someone breathing right next to him, touching him, pulling him closer, strong arms around him, a rough but not unpleasant feeling on his hand, the smell of forest, mixed with sweeter things and a more raw, complex one, so familiar by now...

"Ugh, stop pounding you stupid thing!", he exclaimed embarrassed, punching his chest to stop his heart from acting so ridiculous, but it was useless.

These dreams had occurred too often by now, making his head spin and loose his mind, making him feel things he hadn't experienced in the 300 years he was living on earth- and it was driving him mad. These feelings were so very new to him, confusing him a lot because he had never expected that this could happen to him, him, a winter spirit. During these long, lonely 300 years he spent alone all he had been able to do was to watch the humans leading their life, laughing, crying, growing up, discovering new things, forming friendships- and falling in love. He had always wondered how it must feel like to be head over heels for someone, given how strange some people started to act in the funniest ways. He had longed for it, that bitter sweet pain, to have it fill his veins, pulse through him from head to toe. And now, now that he felt it he wondered whether this was a good or a bad thing. Love. It was a feeling of strangest kind. It made him feel like he was drunk, bubbling underneath his skin and making his heart go faster like never before, a strangely sweet sensation- and yet more painful than anything he had ever experienced.

It felt like his heart was slowly being ripped apart, piece by piece- and he could do nothing against it. The need to touch, to be touched, to be close, to kiss and simply feel the other one was overwhelming, and yet he would never be able to do all of this. Because he had fallen in love with Bunnymund. Bunnymund, guardian of hope, last pookah remaining, oversized rabbit, nickname bunny and so on. He hadn't seen it coming, it had gone slowly, unnoticed by him. At first he had just been glad, so glad that he now had someone he could simply talk to, someone (besides Jamie and his friends) who could see him and wouldn't ignore him, someone he could spent time with. He made sure to never act pushy or stay with them for too long, because even now there was still a small part inside him, in the darkest corners of his mind that expected to be dropped one day, just like a toy which had become boring. But he had managed to suppress this thought most of the time and visited the other guardians, shoving that dark thought away, deep, deep inside into the darkest place inside him, locking it away. Because if he would let out even this it wouldn't take long to give the other fears inside him a chance to overtake him and plunge him into the absolute darkness.

He worked with North in his toy work shop to design new things and eat cookies, sitting in front of the fire or prank the elves. He visited Toothiana and her mini fairies, helping them collect and sort teeth here and there, polish them and listen to their chirping voices which told him about the kids and their homes. He accompanied Sandy, sailing with him on his golden sand cloud over the night sky, watching how he weaved sweet dreams of gold, watching how golden dolphins, teddies, winged horses and mantas left golden traces on the sky. And he visited the warren where Bunnymund resided, pestering him and helping him with the egg painting or finding new colors, new patterns, sometimes simply silently watching how the rabbit painted an egg, carefully and delicate, nimbly despite his hands. They actually really looked more like hands than paws, still furry, fingers, clawed slightly, not as thin as humans had, but possessing more skill than many of them.

Every home of the guardians was like a piece of a home for him, too, filling the void the 300 years alone had opened up in his heart. He liked every one of them, loved them the unique way they were, North, always jolly and friendly, Thoothiana, chatty and never standing still too long, Sandy, silent and always with a gentle smile, Bunnymund, more aloof but so warm underneath his rough tone and behavior. He had always loved to rile up the bunny, to make him angry because it was simply so much fun to fight with him, a feeling no one else of the guardians were able to give him that way. Despite their rather rough start he had grown to like him, respecting him and his way. He admired how strong the rabbit was, his dedication to his work, his willingness to throw himself into a fight for what was most important to him, liked how nimble he painted his eggs, how he loved the spring, his gentleness with children. Slowly, Bunny had become something like a friend, his best friend, loving to bicker with him but also help him whenever he didn't have to bring snow and frost.

Though the guardian of hope always treated him rather roughly and got annoyed often, snapping at him- still, underneath his gruff acting he could feel that he liked him, valued him as someone important. He could feel it in the way how Bunny showed him the right way to paint a certain pattern for the umpteenth time, snapping at him, growling, calling him stupid, but still showing him how. Or the way he explained all the wonders of the warren to him because, even with him being a teenager and over 300 years old and having really seen a lot- he couldn't help but be astonished, peppering the rabbit with questions like a child. And Bunnymund, although pulling a both tired and annoyed face, just like a parent explaining something for the hundredth time or a friend enduring another friend's well known quirk- he answered them all. And despite his seemingly sour look there was a twinkling in those green eyes which told him he didn't really mind, that he enjoyed it as well.

The time down there he spent in the warren, with the rabbit, were some of the most precious memories to him, carefully tucked away in a dark corner of his mind, one of the few treasures he had. And whenever he felt a little down but didn't dare to visit him he took them out, huddled in the snow in his secret cave or sitting on top of a tree, closing his eyes and remembering them. The fights between them, whether spoken or physical which made him feel so alive, the challenges, making his blood burn and his heart pound, the rough things in their friendship. Then these feelings of affection, the trust, peace, the more rare, but comfortable silence they sometimes shared, the gentler things in their friendship. They had morphed, changed, given birth to something new which rooted in them. It was fluttery, intense- and yet uneven delicate, tender to every push and pull, throwing him off his inner balance. He had never felt so frightened before, so scared, feeling that helpless and unsure.

This delicate feeling had cracked the hard core inside him he had spent years on building, that core made of easy going, forced cheerfulness and obstinacy which kept him alive, suppressing the darker feelings of bitterness, hate and desperation. It was now enwrought with this tender, alien feeling, making him feel so very confused and vulnerable. The moment he realized he was in love- in love!- with Bunnymund he had been in his warren, spending some time with him like always when he was 'snow free'. It had sneaked up on him, sudden and without any warning, he had just looked up when the rabbit had mocked him with something, wanting to reply with something equally playful snide. But then it happened, one look into those spring green eyes and he was lost, falling, helpless and shocked, like a marionette which strings had been cut. He remembered having fled in the next moment, ignoring a confused and irritated rabbit calling him behind his back, just wanting to get out, out out.

He felt so scared, not knowing how to act anymore, but at same time feeling strangely giddy with excitement, overhearing a voice deep inside him which whispered it was maybe better to just drop it, drown those gentle feelings. But he couldn't resist that feeling inside him, tender, delicate, gripping his heart with a thread of gleaming hope. Hope that one day Bunnymund would like him back, more than a friend. Even as guardian, even as a being far older than him, even as being of the same gender, even as being from a completely different race. Strange how that didn't even matter to him, but it wasn't like he had many options- therefore his shock for falling in love at all. But somehow he couldn't stop himself - Bunnymund or no one. Being over 300 years old he had zero love experience in what to do, so he had suppressed his alien new feelings for the older guardian, acting like nothing had changed, mocking him, pestering him, painting eggs while smiling.

Although at the same time the quick pounding of his heart thudded in his ears and his skin practically melted with the effort to not blush, secretly watching the other guardian from the corners of his eyes, letting them linger on Bunnymund during those guardian meetings a little longer. Just like that one time he had successfully pushed the rabbit into chasing him by angering him. It had felt so exciting when the rabbit had chased him, his heart had thumped with these strange feelings against his chest like a caged bird. It had felt a bit like dance, that chase, the rabbit following, him leading, intoxicating and thrilling. How much he had wished more would have happened when they had ended up rolling in the snow, those short moments when Bunnymund had been on top of him, his heavy but warm body pressing into him, the sound, feeling of another one's heartbeat thumping against his own.

He still remembered the sharp prick of hurt and disappointment when the other male had looked away the moment he had started to strip, wondering if his body really looked that hideous to the rabbit, thin and pale with only hair on his head and a bit between his legs. And after that, the time they had both been sitting in the hot spring, the way the older guardian had looked like in the water. He should have looked ridiculous, just like a drenched rat with his wet fur clinging to his body, making his lean body stand out even more, aside from the strong muscles moving under it. But somehow, his wet fur had made him look just even more...inviting, making Jack feel slightly lightheaded, barely able to resist the desire to let a hand run through that wet, shiny and silky fur, to feel these lean muscles underneath. Somehow he had managed to speak, to convince the rabbit into coming closer and show him the beauty above their heads. And then, that moment, when the bunny had looked straight into his eyes- he had been unable to move for that second, frozen on his spot, suddenly feeling his nakedness starkly, making him break the eye contact.

He really didn't know what to do, feeling like a fool. "Okay Jack, this is not the time to hang around while thinking!", he scolded himself and stood up,determined to think of something else instead and go to work." A new day to start, wind! Let's get going!" He jumped up, pushing himself into the cold air before he aligned his body and, picking the right direction, flew towards his goal. A few cities needed to get some snow for the winter lovers, for the kids, the old ones, the families, the love struck couples- his mind stopped at that thought, frozen for a moment before he quickly shook it off. He had work to do first, to bring snow and frost and the fun within, paint the windows with those delicate ice patterns and make sure the streets stayed clear and safe to drive on them.

He didn't want to ponder about his... personal stuff right now. Maybe later. Yes, later. He would think later about it, maybe, he felt bit lost at the moment. Damn, where was the help you could ask questions or advice for emotional stuff when you really needed it?! The thought of help sent his mind jumping and suddenly he remembered that he actually had planned to visit a good friend he could ask for advice.

"Hey wind! We'll make a visit later to a good friend, don't forget it! But work first, right? I'll show them that I'm not a lazy guardian!"

With that he shot through the air, ready to bring some snow and fun to the people. He could work out his problems later. "Hello there! It's me, Ja – whoa!" The winter spirit hadn't even be able to finish his sentence before he was suddenly attacked by a big swarm of green, purple and yellow feathered little fairies, all squealing and humming in their own strange language. "Whoa, easy there girls, calm down, calm down!", he soothed them with a laugh, the fairies chirping slightly ashamed before they flew a bit away, letting him sit up while he looked around. A familiar chirp made it's way to his ear and his smile broadened:

"Hey there Baby Tooth!", he softly greeted the special mini fairy which hummed excited and happily before landing on his outstretched hand, her tiny hands touching him before she flew onto his shoulder.

Ever since he had saved her from one of Pitch's nightmare mares they had built a friendship, the little fairy loving to sit on his shoulder and tell him about her days of work and the tooth collecting or listening to him telling about the snow he brought or his meetings with the other guardians. "Ladies, ladies, what's the matter? Shouldn't you be doing your work and sort in all these teeth? We just had a big amount from Italy, and they really need to be- Oh my, Jack!" The tooth queen, or Thoothiana, as her real name was, came flying towards them while talking quickly just like always, stopping when she saw Jack sitting on the floor, surrounded by the squealing fairies and laughing at her, her purple eyes widening.

"Oh, how wonderful! You came, just like you said! I was looking forward to see you again, your last visit has been a while ago, but well, not like you didn't have anything to do! Oh, and my girls and me were awful busy, too, not to let you think we were just fooling around gushing over perfect little teeth- though I should really show you that one, a simply perfect little incisor! I'm sure we would have met soon or later, I know North has been planning another meeting for all of us again. Which reminds me, have you visited to him lately? Did he try out that new cookie recipe he told me about? Something with coconut, and maybe honey and-"

"Whoa there, take a breath Thoothiana! I won't understand half of what you say if you keep talking that fast!", Jack said with a small grin and stood up, brushing over the little fairies who chirped happily before Thoothiana came over to them, shooing them back from Jack with a smile.

"Now now ladies, let's go back to work, right? There are still so many teeth waiting to be sorted out, and Jack and me want to chat a little in peace-", she stopped when the mini fairies chirped disappointed, flocking around her pleadingly.

"Oh, well, I think I can make break a bit earlier for you...but don't go and harass our dear visitor, okay? I know he has perfect teeth, but still!"

The tooth fairy turned around, laughing when the swarm of her helpers squealed in excitement, starting to break up into smaller groups which flew around freely, though a good part of them still stuck close to the winter spirit and Thoothiana.

"I hope they don't bother you- it's just that your teeth are so shiny and white and- oh, can I please take a look at them?!" Toothiana asked, her purple eyes wide and excited, making Jack back away slightly:

"Uh, well, I don't know. I don't really like having fingers in my mouth-", seeing the disappointed look in her eyes he quickly added,

"But okay, you can look. But don't overdo it o- nnghmpf!"

The tooth fairy hadn't wasted any time, opening his mouth with a gleeful face, only to squeal which was repeated by several tiny voices, her fairies had sneaked up from behind, marveling at Jack's perfect teeth, making the white haired guardian roll his eyes- he had never understood what was so great about his teeth- but he held still anyway. If Thoothiana loved to examine his teeth that much he could let her do it once a while- just not too often, it just felt too weird after a while to have someone poke at your teeth and pry your lips apart for that.

"Oohgn, dga shuoagh bffe enoufggf-",

he carefully pried her fingers away from his mouth, rubbing his lips while Thoothiana smiled slightly embarrassed, though her eyes still darted to his mouth longingly.

"Well, Jack, how about we sit somewhere nice and chat a little? I can't take very long breaks, but it should be enough for something sweet and a talk, hmm? Of course sugar free!"

The winter spirit nodded and followed her to a nice pavilion, which had a round roof but no real fence or balustrade to save a by chance passing by guest from falling into the dizzying depths beneath them, of course the tooth fairy had no real need for something like this since she and her helpers could all fly around. Not like it really bothered Jack, he could fly after all. And no balustrade just meant a greater view of the majestic mountains, flecked with the green plants growing on them, and the deep valleys stretching between them, making him wonder how deep they really ran and what it looked like down there. It would be great to explore these valleys with Bu- he froze, tensing up slightly before he tried to control himself quickly. Damn it, he really needed to work more on his self control. He quickly eyed Toothiana from the corner of his eyes, but luckily it seemed like she hadn't noticed anything, busy looking over a tablet with something to drink and sweets.

Sighing softly he sat down and then rolled onto his back, laying close to the edge of the pavilion while staring into the distance, smiling weakly when baby tooth flew over to him before slowly sitting down onto his stomach, chirping sweetly. She was immediately followed by a swarm of the other fairies, all flocking over Jack excited, some carefully sitting down next to him on the marble floor, some simply flying above him, others were braver and sat onto his stomach or shoulders. He really liked the tiny fairies, even without knowing every single one of them, or having a kind of friendship with them like with baby tooth. And it calmed him down a bit, stilling his slightly aching heart, caused by the thought of the rabbit. Stretching his arm out he let a few of them land on his hands, arm and fingers, suppressing a snort because their tiny feet tickled a little.

He then sat up carefully to not shake them off, wandering over to Toothiana who smiled at him brightly before offering him tea- without sugar- and, of course, sugar less sweets made by herself, though he found a few of North's cookie mixed under them which he quickly ate, ignoring her scolding. Both guardians moved over to the edge of the pavilion again, Toothiana sat down on a floor pillow, her wings gracefully folded behind her back while Jack strolled over to the edge and, leaning against one of the pillars supporting the roof, let his legs dangle in the air. They both talked then about many different things, what they had been up to, Toothiana telling him about the many teeth and the memories she had seen in them, some beautiful, some more terrible, but never too bad, or how she nearly got seen by a few children trying to stay awake long enough for that, or her encounter with the teeth mice, European partners of her.

Jack in turn told her about the different cities he had brought snow and frost to, the children playing in the snow happily and with fun, how a few had actually seen him, really seen him and how he had built them a giant snowman as a present before he had moved. Or how he had pulled a prank on some adults who had been mean to children, snowing in their cars as a punishment. Or how he had once covered a whole school ground with snow angels, only snow angels and then had waited to watch the children wonder about this with their teachers before shooting a few photos, eyes full of awe.

"Aww, such a cute idea, Jack! I knew you would be a great guardian!",

Toothiana laughed and sipped on her tea, her wings fluttering slightly in response to her mood. He waved off with a modest cheeky grin, twitching slightly in surprise when Toothiana made a shriek and jumped up, staring at her mini fairies who giggled, flying around the tray:

"Oh dear, my little girls ate all the sweets without me noticing! Girls, that's not very polite to our guest, don't you think?"

But the fairies only chirped and giggled when Jack blew them a snow flake to dance around them, none looking too ashamed- a few still wiped off crumbs from their mouths. The tooth fairy rolled her eyes, though not looking really mad at them and turned to face Jack:

"Well, excuse them Jack, it's just that they don't get to eat sweets very often, with our profession and all that stuff! I mean, they' re sugarless, but still...anyway, just wait, I'll quickly get another portion for us, okay?" "Sure, I'll just wait",

Jack shrugged, grinning when she looked at her mini helpers scolding and said motherly stern: " So, since you snatched our guest's sweets away you might as well help carrying the next portion, right? How about you'll bring those nice, sugar free cupcakes North sent me two days ago- well, I assume they are sugarless. You never know what he puts inside them, but...", she trailed off, waving at her fairies to follow which they did mostly- except baby tooth who chirped at him and refused to go, even he tried to shush her away.

"Okay okay, then stay, I won't cover for you if you get in trouble!",

he scolded her softly before he smiled and sighed, the smile he had worn during his conversation with Toothiana fading away. Leaning back against the pillar of the pavilion he stared into the distance, suppressing a groan when his thoughts wandered back to a certain big rabbit, although he tried to resist it didn't help at all.

"I can't stop thinking about him, Baby Tooth...",

he murmured, covering his eyes when he felt a blush creep up his cheeks. The little fairy chirped both confused and curious, fluttering closer to his face until he hold out his hand and let her sit on a finger.

"What would you do, hmm? Any idea?"

Baby tooth twittered, her little face scrunching up slightly before she shook her head, still confused, eying him concerned.

"I mean, I absolutely got no clue what to do! I've known him for how long? About nine months? But I can't help it, I really...really like him, and-" "Here we are, back from sweet bringing!"

Jack twitched back frightened and whirled around, caught off guard, and almost fell over into the abyss next to him, gaining his balance back just at the last second.

"Oh, hey Toothiana!",

he hastily said and smiled, standing up to take a few sweets from the tray the mini fairies were offering him. He coughed when she looked at him with a lifted eyebrow, inwardly sweating, sighing quietly when she turned to pour in tea for both of them, seeming to not have heard or noticed anything.

"There, try out these cupcakes I told you about- they taste really good! Though somehow I can't really believe they are really sugarless- they smell AND taste way too sweet...".

She frowned upon them, but Jack simply grabbed one, not really caring if they had sugar or not as long as they tasted great. He ignored Toothianas look at his teeth in slight horror, sinking them into the delicious looking soft, creamy topping in white, moaning slightly at the bombastic taste. Oh, North knew damn sure how to bake great stuff, and he'll be damned, but even if he did get fat from them he'd still continue to eat them like an addicted. They sat down, Toothiana eying the cupcakes warily before choosing a surely sugarless cookie while he chewed in pure bliss. _/ Man, when was the last time I ate sweets that good?/_ he mused _/ Oh right, that wasn't that long ago. North really makes great sweets, but this chocolate eggs Bunny makes- /_ He stopped, frozen, his smile slipping while he felt his cheeks grow hot. Oh damn, not again.

"Jack? Can I...can I ask you something?",

Toothiana asked while looking at him with her purple eyes, an unreadable look inside them.

"Uh, what?! Oh, sure. Shoot",

he said and smiled quickly, trying to think of something else than how sweet the chocolate egg had tasted, and how close Bunny had been standing to him, close enough to feel the animalistic heat pouring off him...

"Well...could it be that...you have a crush on someone?"

Bits and pieces of the cupcake flew through the air while Jack choked, trying to both swallow what he had just eaten and breath.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry Jack!",

the tooth fairy gasped, rushing over to him to pat his back hard, the winter spirit finally managing to breath before spluttering in panic:

"What?! How did you come up with that idea?" "Well...it's not like I'm an expert at this thing, but...You looked like something was troubling you, like you were thinking about something really hard. I'm pretty sure there's something which bothers you! So, tell me: what is it are you maybe in love with someone?" She stared at him sternly, her purple eyes both determined and concerned:

"You know, you can tell me everything, Jack. We are all guardians, and since you are one too you belong to us, to our family as well. So, what is your problem?"

Jack shifted away from her, because she was just a little to close to his personal bubble, thankfully she noticed it and shifted away a bit as well, apologizing quickly before staring at him again, her eyes demanding answers.

"Uh...",

the winter spirit thought quickly while trying to find a plausible sounding answer, rather wanting to drop dead than tell her he had a crush on a certain giant bunny. "I don't really have any problem at all, it is just...You know, it's about Jamie!"

"Jamie?"

Toothiana looked surprised, her eyebrows smoothing out a little. She still looked surprised, but not as concerned as before and, what was even better, like she was believing it. _/ Oh, thank the man in the moon that she's buying this! /_ he thought before he nodded eagerly, continuing:

"Yes, about Jamie. You see, when I visited him some time ago he asked me for advice on something. And well, he told me that he...kind of liked someone, for a while now actually. He really likes that person, but doesn't know how to tell that someone what he feels. He asked me for advice, and I've been wracking my brain since then..."

"Oh! Oooh, I see!", Toothiana exclaimed with sparkling eyes and sighed dreamily, propping her head up on her hands.

"I'm glad to hear it isn't something terrible problem of yours! But...oh, that's just too cute! Tell me is it a girl? Or a boy? Don't worry, I'm open minded, as long as the persons brushes his teeth regularly!"

"Wait, what?!", Jack said, staring at her with wide eyes. Had she. Had she just said she didn't mind boys liking...other boys? Like, male on male?

She continued to giggle and babble on about it, talking too fast in excitement for Jack to understand everything besides single words like 'children', 'being young' or 'innocent' while he watched her, suddenly getting an idea.

"Well, Toothiana...",

he coughed, swallowing nervously while trying to look casual and relaxed.

"He told me he has known that person for a while now, and they are really good friends, and he really really likes that person. And he sometimes has the feeling that...that this person likes him as well, he just doesn't know how for sure. But he is...scared. He said he is scared of ruining their friendship or getting rejected...Jamie asked me for advice, but honestly I don't know much about love at that age, so...what...what would you say he should do? "

The bird like guardian was quiet for a while, looking thoughtful before she shook her head ans smiled.

"He doesn't have to be scared at all. What he should do is...to try and voice his feelings, to tell this special person what he feels, wholeheartedly and true. And about getting rejected: Well, you never know for sure if it might work out. But...if this friend of him really likes him, as you said, then, maybe...you never know what's hidden in the heart of someone close to you",

she said with a wink of her eyes.

"If Jamie is so unsure and afraid of getting rejected, how about he makes something nice? Something his special person will definitely like- it shouldn't be too difficult if he knows this person's likes and dislikes."

"You mean...like a present?",

Jack asked, staring at her. "Yes, a present. Something nice - something the other one will really like. The more effort spent on it the better...if it's home made it is even more romantic and displays your feelings even more. Every little detail will be like a mirror of your love...", she sighed dreamily before she nodded and smiled, slipping back into squealing:

"Ooh, but that really is just too cute! I just hope it works out for our little Jamie! I have to tell the others so they'll cheer for him-" "What? No!",

the blue eyed teenager yelled scared:

" I said I wouldn't tell anyone, and now I kind of already broke that promise by asking you for help!" "Oh, okay, I see. Then don't worry, I won't tell anyone! The same goes for you ladies!",

she sternly told her fairies who chirped. The younger guardian sighed inwardly, just glad that she had bought the 'Jamie' trick and stood up.

"Okay, Toothiana. I'll leave for now, got still some...well, things to do! It was nice to chat with you!" "Yes, bye Jack! We'll see us soon again!", the bird like fairy smiled brightly and waved him good bye, the winter spirit didn't see it anymore because he was already up in the air. His mind was working on high pressure, thoughts tumbling and whirling through his head on high speed while he flew back to the Antarctic. Right now, what he needed the most was time to think. A lot of time to think. About how he would try and confess to Bunny and the present for him to show what he meant to him. His heart skipped a beat at the thought while he couldn't help but feel both scared and excited, the delicate threads of love holding his heart caught trembling inside with force. What face would Bunnymund make?

"Ugh...". A groan sounded through the dark room, the only light source was a window which was almost completely covered with a curtain. Dark spring green eyes slowly blinked in the darkness before the big bunny attempted to sit up, only to almost fall over. Oh crikey damn. Why did his head felt so light and yet heavy at the same time? His whole body felt so...warm, much warmer than usual, coming every once and a while in waves, making him curse under his breath. It was not close enough to feel really uncomfortable, but still very distracting. He felt like he had just worked a full day under the sun of his homeland Australia without a break, without using any shadows or a pause, the warmth pooling under his fur, making him feel like he really needed to sweat but couldn't.

"I know this feeling...", he murmured and held his dangerously light feeling head when another wave of that warmth pulsed through him, twitching at the not unpleasant feeling he growled.

Slowly he stood up, wobbling shortly when another wave of warmth ran over his skin like oil before he straightened up with a huff and walked out of his little house in the warren. Just what was this feeling? He knew it, knew it damn good, it was so familiar- his eyes widened when another wave of warmth hit his body, this time stronger, harder, prickling like thousand tiny needles. His hips made an involuntarily thrust forward while he gasped, bending over slightly while he buried his fingers into his fur, nearly crushing his left arm. Trying to stay calm he waited till the wave was over before he sat down, staring at his hands while nausea threatened to take over, coiling in his stomach while his head started to throb.

Oh god, please not. It couldn't be, it was way too early for this to happen, this couldn't be happening, no no no no no, please not- another wave of warmth made his muscles tense up and he gritted his teeth. Goddammit. The rabbit couldn't deny it any longer, no matter how much he wanted, he was familiar with this state- this hated, cursed, wanted state he was afraid of more than anything else, especially now. He was about to get into heat. His mating season had started. But why? Why now? Why already at this time?! It was too early for this, way too early! He was still head over heels in his last Easter preparations, painting the last eggs, checking the tunnels for a safe travel, checking the weather forecast. His inner clock had always, always stayed in beat, he could trust that after Easter his mating season would start, not one day sooner or one day later, always in this rhythm.

That way he had always been prepared. It was simply natural that, after all the work when he no longer was occupied with anything else and, when the weather would be ideal for this, his instincts to mate would kick in. So, why now? Why now now?! With a deep growl he closed his eyes and tried to ignore the thin rivulet of raw desire lingering in his loins, jerking up when the picture of white hairs with blue eyes flashed through his mind. Of course. He should have known. He should have known. Breathing in sharply he opened his eyes, feeling the tell tale signs of a headache pressing against the back of his head. He should have known that this would happen, with all his thoughts circling around the white haired teenager whenever he didn't work or purposely distracted himself. It had been inevitable.

He hadn't been attracted to anyone like that for ages- this strong desire to care for him, protect him, love him, feel him next to him and breath in the scent of his pale neck, to learn his body and to share his time with him. This love had already been terrible and heavy enough to endure, but with the incoming mating season...he shuddered. He didn't want to feel this unfulfilled love and be controlled by sexual desire at the same time. It already hurt too much to know that Jack would never love him back, seeing that he was not only male but from a completely different species, a pookah, a giant rabbit, desiring him both psychically and physically. He would call him disgusting and start to avoid him- and hate him. And that- that would kill him.

If those brilliant blue eyes would look at him with that expression it would kill him. It would break him, rip his heart apart, which had already endured this once, having healed from it but still being tender. Piece by piece. It would be pure torture, a slow death for him. Right now his heat wasn't even at full force, the warmth coming in waves was distracting him a bit, but not that much and could be ignored. It was a bit like a kitten pulling with it's tiny claws at his legs, slightly painful and annoying, but easy to forget as soon as he got used to it. But of course it wouldn't stay that way. It would grow stronger, heavier, until the pulsing heat was unbearable and erase, consume all his thoughts until he could think of nothing else but what his body was telling him, to wildly mate without a pause.

He wouldn't be able to control himself any more- and if Jack decided to drop by at that time... Normally his mating season started right after Easter had ended, the heat keeping him restless and desperate for physical touch, driven by the need to fuck like mad and making him really aggressive. This state thankfully lasted only about three days and no longer, since he never really had had a mate to release his stress and desire with, thus why his body was free of the heat after the three days had ended. Usually he locked himself up in his house down in the warren and barricaded all tunnels leading into the warren, to make sure no one could enter, no matter who, when he was in this state, only fueled by the need to fuck, something all the other guardians knew about. They all knew what he went through after Easter and that he absolutely wanted to be alone at that time, they respected it and understood it was the best to not disturb him. But...this was different. It was still three days till Easter- and he had no idea how long this state of him would last.

All he knew that this waves of warmth, every so often and constant, would just become much worse to the point he wouldn't be able to function normally anymore. How should he be able to to finish the last preparations for Easter when he didn't know when his heat would reach the peak in the next days? How would he be able to even properly hide all the eggs at all? He couldn't simply lock himself up like he used to do, not with Easter being only six more days away from arriving! But, more importantly...how should he tell the others? And how the hell could he manage to avoid Jack?

"There's no point of dwelling over it uselessly, mate", he mumbled to himself and stood up, twitching and scowling when another wave of warmth crept through his body,

"You have to make it somehow...". And he tried to.

Bunnymund didn't know what he had thought, how he could be able to pull it off- because it was the fourth day now and he felt like he would collapse soon. The warmth hadn't changed into the dreaded heat yet- he didn't know if he should feel grateful for that- but it was now constantly there. The warmth, having definitely grown stronger in degree, was now constantly sloshing over him with no warning, unlike to the start where it came rather irregular. Every time a new wave hit him he had to pause, trying to absorb the shock of warmth pooling underneath his fur, over his skin, pulsing through him. It was annoying the hell out of him because not only did it hinder his work but also distracted him, sending his mind reeling prickling, still harmless desire, making him only think of the one he wanted the most.

What the bloody hell was he supposed to do when the heat would reach it's peak? If it already was that difficult to bear he wouldn't be able to work on Easter at all, only feeling the raw desire pulse through him, his body demanding to press into a smaller, pale body, feel it's heartbeat, to melt into him, become one. And he couldn't let that happen, no matter what. It already hurt too much to know Jack would think of him as disgusting, like spikes were pressing through his fast beating heart. The gray bluish rabbit groaned, hissing when another wave of warmth rolled through him before he decided to sit down shortly and sit it out shortly. He had just taken place on one of the rocks, underneath one of the trees to stay in the shadows- he wanted to cool of as much as possible before continuing to work- when suddenly one of his little eggs came over to him. More like rolling actually, because it repeatedly tripped over it's tiny feet, thankfully the soft grass prevented any damage in it's hurry.

"What's the matter, little one?",

he grumbled, though softly, clenching up when the next wave made him arch up slightly, a burning pull in his loins which ebbed away rather slowly.

"Shit...", he breathed out slowly, eyes trying to readjust to their surrounding before they noticed that the little egg was still waiting at his feet, hopping around impatiently.

"What's this thing you got around your- oh ace, just what I needed...".

Carefully wrapped around the egg was a red ribbon, holding a little roll of paper in place- and he already knew whom this was coming from. Scowling he he nevertheless took the paper roll and opened it, seeing the familiar handwriting of someone annoying: "_Dear Bunnymund! I hope your Easter preparations are going well and everything's smooth! I'm positive you have all ears full with works, even if it is a smaller thing than Christmas. Still, it would be great if you could come over here to the north pole as quick as possible. It is urgent! North "._ Oh hell. What did the white haired old man want NOW? Especially since he said it was 'urgent' ! Bunnymund briefly considered to simply ignore the letter and continue his Easter preparations, if not just because North had felt the need to express his thought on how Christmas was allegedly more important, that stupid old plonker!

But he knew that he'd regret that choice sooner or later, North would pester him endlessly about how he had dared to ignore his letter and never let him hear the end of it till he'd be close to strangle the red coat bastard. Fine, he would visit him, but just to see what he wanted- which was probably something totally unimportant – then he would return to his Easter preparations. Standing up he thumped onto the ground with his foot, summoning a tunnel leading to the north pole, tensing up when the warmth attacked his senses again which made him almost fall into the tunnel. Luckily he was able to regain his senses back fast enough to catch himself, jumping down the tunnel with a curse stuck between his gritted teeth. / _That better be something important, North ! / _he sourly thought while racing towards his goal.

" So, what is it this time North?",

he growled, as soon as he had popped up from his hole and entered the workshop, annoyed and worked out from both working and enduring the heat waves.

"What was so important that you thought you had to drag me to ya workplace, away from MY work?!" he said pissed off, only to froze at the sight in front of him.

"Ah, there you are finally Bunny!", North greeted him happily, lifting a steaming cup of cocoa while sitting at his big table which was covered with plates of cookies, some fruits, fresh smelling bread and big cans of steaming cocoa, tea and coffee.

"Wait, what is that for?", the rabbit said wide eyed, staring at the generous covered with food, mostly sweets, a few elves hiding underneath the table and chewing on probably stolen cookies, giggling like mad.

"Oh, this? I knew it, you almost forgot our nice little meetings to drink tea and talk a bit, no? That was why I send letter with eager egg of yours, to remind you of our chat time!" Bunny felt a vein pulse on his forehead before gritting out:

"You called me away from my last Easter preparations, with Easter only being three more days away, for a little TEA CHAT?!"

"Uh, Yeah?", North said, looking at him surprised.

"Okay, forget this, I don't have time for this whack shit! I'm going back to my warren!",

the rabbit furiously exclaimed and turned around, growling when North, sounding greatly disappointed, called after him:

"You want not even one cup cocoa, no? Is good and hot!"

The guardian of hope whirled around, growling: "For the last time, I don't have ANY time for this! I need to go back an-"

Right in the middle of his sentence he stopped, his eyes widened, doubling over when another wave of heat hit him totally off his guard.

"Shit-",

he cursed out and staggered, grabbing onto the table for a hold while the warmth pulsed through him, underneath his fur and on his skin, forcing his body to shudder. North, who had bolted up from his chair the moment he had staggered, quickly came over next to him.

"Bunny, what was that?",

he said appalled, staring at him with his blue eyes, "Are you okay?!"

"S' okay, stay away",

Bunny growled and pushed North's hand away before straightening up,

"It was just...".

The older guardian stared at him inquiringly, his look suddenly both serious and honest, slowly asking: "Bunny...has your mating season started ?"

The rabbit twitched back involuntarily at this question, his ears flattening defensively: "What? No! That was just -"

"A heat stroke, hmm?", North said with a lifted eyebrow. "Bunny, I've read and saw enough over all these years to know this. You cannot fool me old man."

He leaned back against the table, eyes never leaving Bunny who growled and looked away, thinking loudly:

"What I wonder...your mating season, isn't it supposed to start after Easter, no? I've known you long enough to know that it always was like that and never changed. But, then, what caused it to reel out of beat, to bother you like this-"

North's eyes widened, stopping for a second before continuing: "To influence your inner clock like this strongly can only mean!- but, then- Bunny, could it be that you have chosen...a mate?"

The rabbit's green eyes widened, already wanting to lash out a heated 'no' , but shut his mouth instead of answering, stiffly looking away instead of meeting the others eyes - though he couldn't suppress the small, violent shudder at the word 'mate'.

"I was right", North said caught off guard, staring at the silent rabbit,

"So you fell for someone, no? Who is it?!"

The rabbit stubbornly kept his mouth closed, glaring daggers at North who completely ignored his threatening glare, slowly saying:

"But, if that is true- and it is true, I know!- that...to throw you off your balance that much...it is almost like, no, even stronger than at that time, when you fell for-"

Bunnymund, having closed his eyes in tired annoyance, froze before tensing up, a violent shudder running through him when memories he had kept long suppressed flashed in front of his eyes, words which had broken him once echoing through his head, spoken by a female voice: _"How, but...why? Why are you telling me this Bunny! Why? I can't believe it! You ruined everything between us! How can you even THINK about this!" "No, wait! Please, listen- don't walk away, I want to explain everything to you - " "Stay. Away. From. Me! And don't try to touch me! I don't want to ever see you again, in my whole life! " Sound of feet walking away, stopping shortly before turning around. " I can't believe I ever saw you as a friend when you were thinking like that. You so __are disgusting." _

"SHUT UP!", he yelled, breaking through the painful memory and startling North who went silent in shock and surprise.

"Don't you dare to ever talk about _that_ ever again! I don't want to ever hear _that _name again, whether from you or another one! Got that? And the mating season is _my _problem, no matter if it's out of beat or not!"

The rabbit hissed, turning around and thumping, summoning a hole back to his warren before he prepared to jump down. " I'm going back now, thanks for holding me up for nothing". "Wait, Bunny! But, this is dangerous, I just want to help-" "I said I'm going back NOW! Bye North. And don't you even dare thinking about trying and finding out more", Bunnymund hissed before turning around and jumping down his hole, disappearing into the calming darkness of his tunnels.

A figure sat high on top of a big tree, teetering back and forth softly while letting the wind caress it's white hair. Pale hands gripped their staff tighter while blue eyes looked into the distance, occasional shivers running through the lean body. Jack was afraid. He had never felt so both incredible nervous and excited at the same time, it was bubbling in his veins, rushing through his body and making him feel light headed and sick. Because today was Easter. Today was the day he wanted to confess to Bunnymund. Fear gripped his heart, making him swallow nervously while at the same time it practically galloped inside his chest with nervous, giddy joy, over hyper with the upcoming confession.

He yearned, hungered, no, _needed _to let this feelings loose, to let them all out, pour them out. Or he would go mad soon or later, silent, slow death with those feelings of love which felt as soft as feathers stroking his heart- and yet, keeping it captured tighter than an anaconda's grip. "I don't know if I can do this...", he whispered to the wind, which sang quietly and stroked his cheek, calming him down a little but he still felt unsure. Never had he felt younger with his age of three hundred and eighteen years, compared to that of the other guardians he was really like a little child. It had never bothered him before, but now...three hundred years and no experience in love at all.

With a groan he buried his face into his hands, making something swing softly against his right side. Oh right. He had almost forgotten that. "Jack Frost, you really are so stupid!" he grumbled and smacked himself before he let his fingers glide over the bag made of washed out cloth, only a shade darker than his own hoodie. The weight of it calmed him down a bit more, breathing in slowly he thought of what Toothiana had told him. _"Yes, a present. Something nice - something the other one will really like. The more effort spent on it the better...if it's home made it is even more romantic and displays your feeling even more. Every little detail will be like a mirror of your __love...". _

This was his special present, the one he had made for Bunnymund, and Bunnymund only. No one else was allowed to have it. He had never spent so much work on something before, making every snowfall, every winter storm, hell, even the blizzard he had so carefully created on Easter Sunday 68' seem like a child aimlessly scribbling on paper, without caring much. It had taken him three whole months, months in which he had spent every free minute on working on this special present for Bunny. Till late in the night he had worked on it, every detail had taken whole days to finish because of the care he had put into them, to make them perfect. He hadn't wanted even one flaw on it, slowly, carefully forming every detail as good as possible. This alone had taken long enough time, but this hadn't been the only thing, he had wanted to create something special, something out of the ordinary, so he had used his very own magic.

Jack had taken it with him to bed, curled around he had slept with it, filled it, breathing in a part of his own magic, of his life. He had never done this before, to use his magic in that way, and it had been very difficult- and yet strangely satisfying. It had felt like he had tried to build a house without using a frame, until he figured out how to do it, interweaving the strands of magic with utmost care. The winter spirit had never felt so happy when he had finished, surprised at himself that he had been able to create something like this. Softly he let his fingertips glide over the smooth, cold surface, feeling the magic, his magic practically brimming from it. Nervousness came back again, making him feel both fidgety and giddy.

Would Bunnymund like it? Would he understand what it meant? Would he...would he accept his love? "Okay, stop thinking about this, you don't have all day to dwell Jack!", he determined told himself. He stood up, securing the bag on his side once more before he jumped off the tree, flying through the air. First of all he had to get into the warren, then he could confess to him. But, strange...where was an open tunnel? After the fight with Pitch, when their friendship had slowly become closer and stronger, Bunnymund had left a tunnel which lead straight to the warren open, a silent offer that he could always come whenever he wanted to. He had been glad that the rabbit hadn't been able to see him at that moment.

When Jack had realized this he hadn't been able to stop himself from starting to tremble, crumbling down and cry icy tears. But right now he couldn't find any open tunnels. He searched everywhere, in the woods in the nearest cities, at unusual places like under a garbage can, but nothing. After two hours of searching he finally found several small ones, just big enough to let the eggs through, but they did nothing for him. _/ Strange. Why would Bunny close off all tunnels except the ones for the eggs? But, even when he just left those open, there must be at least one open for him.../ _Jack thought, looking around.

Finally he found one, hidden right between a few bushes and jumped in, clutching the small bag safely against his chest. His feet landed on the green grass with a soft thud and he looked around, losing himself for a moment in the sight of the beautiful green surrounding, the magic of seeing spring.

"Bunny?", he called out, slowly walking through the grass- which somehow felt much warmer than usual...- while his blue eyes swept around.

Somehow...Something was different. It wasn't really dead silent, but still...Normally there was at least one warrior egg walking around slowly, but now there was no one.

"Probably with the little eggs", Jack murmured and walked ahead, staff shouldered to where he knew the eggs left to the surface.

He could already hear them, the scurrying of thousands of tiny feet hurrying over earth and grass. Jumping on top of a few bigger rocks he perched, wanting to surprise attack the big rabbit who was probably just sitting under or next to one of the rocks-

"Surprise!" He yelled, jumping down and ready to dodge an angry rabbit's kick but none came.

"Huh?" Confused he looked around. He saw the myriad of eggs hurrying through the tunnels upstairs, with dozens warrior eggs guarding them carefully, but no giant bunny with gray bluish fur.

Crouching down he looked at the little eggs running past him, eager to hide for the children.

"Hey, do you know where Bunny is?", he asked one of the warrior eggs, but they just ignored him, too absorbed with their work.

"Oh, it was just a rhetorical question, not like you could've answered anyway. You got no mouths!", the white haired teenager snorted, standing up to continuing searching for the older guardian.

"Maybe he is at the painting flower fields?"

Turning around he saw something in the corner of his eyes and stopped, walking closer. Something colorful shimmered in the grass, tiny pieces of - egg shells. His eyes widened, crouching down he took one into his hand and stared at it. The color on it was all smeared up, looking like the painter's hand had trembled too much to properly paint. He recognized it as a new pattern with different colors, the older guardian had often showed him a few 'test eggs' like that. But they had never been broken. They looked like someone had thrown them against the rocks and the ground in anger, but...Bunny would never do that. Feeling increasingly worried he followed the trail of broken egg shells, a few times there was a broken brush as well, splashed color pots, ripped papers. Just what had happened?

The big rabbit would normally never leave the eggs alone on Easter to go up on their own- even if they were very much able to do. Pondering over this Jack noticed after a while where exactly the trail was leading to- to Bunny's little house. Shortly, a few meters away from the door it stopped, leaving him to either go away or open the door. His pale hand reached out, hovering over the wooden door knob, hesitating before slowly gripping it, opening the door with a determined jerk. "Bunny, it's me – ugh!" He stumbled back, overwhelmed for a few seconds. The moment he had opened the door a gush of warm air hit his face and he froze, breathing in involuntarily. He had spent enough time down in the warren to have gotten used to the warmth down there, not to mention spending time with a large, very warm rabbit.

It hadn't bothered him as much as one would think with him being a winter spirit. Just like he had explained once to Bunny, even with enjoying cold and snow the most he still appreciated the warmth and heat for a while to feel. Compared to the heat he had once experienced in the desert- bad memories, he had almost collapsed there and practically melted- the warmth in the warren was a piece of cake. But this, this gush of air was different...The temperature of it wasn't much higher, but there was _something _in it which left a strange feeling inside him, making his skin prickle – almost like having goosebumps. And the smell. Jack wasn't a pookah with an extraordinarily high sense of smell, but even like that he could tell that the air smelt different than from outside. The smell of the warren was practically the essence of spring, green, fresh grass, wood and resin, seas of flowers and water droplets - some of it always clung in Bunnymund's fur as well, though he himself had a different smell.

But this air...it smelled of heat, salty sweat, damp...fur and something heavy. It was a darker smell he didn't know, couldn't name, a smell which both strangely attracted him and awakened the urge to run away immediately. He could practically taste it on his tongue, the thumping heat and other things, feelings, stroking over his exposed skin, something like...despair? And a few else- vigorously he shook his head, ripping himself out of the light trance. He didn't come for...examining air, he had a goal. Licking over his suddenly dry lips he excitedly stepped into the house, looking around. Strange. It was dark inside, only a few light rays came through, the windows were mostly covered with curtains. Jack moved slowly, not wanting to crash against anything while wondering why the heck the rabbit had darkened everything. What was wrong? And what was all this stuff on the floor?

"Bunny?", he hesitantly called out, almost stepping on something he saw on the floor, quickly side stepping and thinking he had avoided it.

In the next moment he stumbled over something he had over seen, crashing against something bigger before falling into something. "What the hell-" scared he felt around, feeling tiny, broken things under him- egg shells. He was sitting on a giant pile of egg shells, broken egg shells. His blue eyes stared around, finally able to see more- they had gotten used to the darkness and widened now even more. The inside of the house was a mess. Broken egg shells were laying around everywhere, splintered and colored, brushes, color pots. A few racks were on the floor as well, like someone had pushed them over, books and other things which had been on it on the floor. Getting up he carefully walked around, feeling his way around but it was no use, he still crashed into a few things here and there.

"Damn it, why is this stu – waaah!"

Jack cried out when he stumbled over again, this time crashing a rack which hadn't been thrown over yet. It tumbled over, glass breaking while both Jack and the wooden shelf fell onto the floor. Coughing Jack rubbed his eyes and stared at the mess he had made, his stomach turning when he noticed several precious looking things were now laying on the floor. He recognized a delicately painted egg, now broken, an old boomerang and other things-

"What are you doing here?!"

Jack froze, twitching back from the broken egg pieces he had reached out for. That voice, rough and with a strange tone laying underneath could only be from...He whirled around, finding himself face to face with no one else than Bunnymund, his heart starting to thump faster in response while he smiled.

"Hey Bunny...".

But his smile slowly shrunk when he took a closer look at the big rabbit. The guardian of hope was staring at him, his green eyes, which were normally soft and spring green, practically piercing him like needles. They were bright, shining feverish intense, dark with seething emotions so strong it made the winter spirit step back unconsciously. Bunnymund looked anything but pleased to see him, his look so aggressively that it almost felt like a blow in his face, making his mouth go dry and his blood go cold. But that wasn't the only thing which unsettled him so much. The older male was slightly hunched over, holding himself like he was in pain, his breath coming out ragged and uneven while he stared at Jack, trembles rolling through his lean body. He looked like he was about to explode, tensed up, like a bow string ready to be released, ears laying flat back. But what put the white haired teenager even more off was the air around the big rabbit.

Bunnymund practically oozed with vibrating emotions and something else the younger couldn't name. Desperation and suppressed anger were swirling around him in powerful waves, underneath was laying something else, something bitter and so painful it made him freeze. Mixed with that was that smell, that intense smell which had suddenly gotten a lot stronger, making him realize that Bunny was the source of it, it poured off him like sweat. "What are you doing here?!", the older guardian rasped aggressively, voice horse and raw, supporting himself against the wall while he stared at Jack who twitched back at the sharp tone. "I...I wanted...I, uh- I just wanted to- ", he stumbled over the words, unable to properly speak with the rabbit angrily staring at him like this. His naked feet moved backwards in defense, stepping onto one of the egg pieces, making Bunny's ears twitch at the crunching sound, feverish eyes flickering towards the ground.

"You-", he hissed and stepped forward, straightening up before yelling: "What did you do?!" "I- I didn't do it on purpose, it was an accident-",

Jack stuttered, backing away when the bunny came closer quickly, the air of anger and pure desperation only growing around him.

"You", he snarled, " You broke some of my most precious possessions! You stupid, fucking brat!" "I- I-", the winter spirit could only stutter, stumbling backwards with Bunny approaching him, both guardians were outside the house now, standing on grass.

"No one. NO ONE was supposed, was allowed to come in here today! But you, of course, you had to barge in like you own this fucking place, right?! And destroyed a few of the less things I actually treasure! Oh, you're Jack Frost, of course there are NO rules for you, you just do WHAT YOU FUCKING WANT, RIGHT?! You don't CARE AT ALL, RIGHT?! You had no right, NO RIGHT to come in here again, especially on FUCKING EASTER, AFTER WHAT YOU FUCKING DID ON EASTER 68' ! Were you just waiting to RUIN Easter AGAIN?!

You fucking, brainless, arrogant little shit! Do you even realize how FUCKING ANNOYING you are?! You are a PAIN in the ass, a walking DISASTER! You bring NOTHING but CHAOS and TROUBLE for EVERYONE, especially ME! Man in the moon must have been out his FUCKING MIND when he chose YOU as the next guardian! Did you EVER do something GOOD?! Did you EVER do something else then bringing TROUBLE?!

You don't even realize what a FUCKING nuisance you are, how much you FUCKING disturb US at work! You think we LIKE you?! ACCEPT YOU as a GUARDIAN?! HA! Don't make me FUCKING LAUGH! You never did anything REMOTELY GOOD, just RUINING OTHER'S WORK! We NEVER WANTED YOU here! Those few believers will forget YOU SOON ENOUGH! You will NEVER be a REAL GUARDIAN, no one will ever truly BELIEVE in you! All you do is bringing BAD THINGS to US!

You NEVER gave ME ANYTHING but FUCKING TROUBLE! And you ALWAYS WILL! Hell, maybe it would have been better if you had just really DROWNED and DIED! So, go, DISAPPEAR! FUCKING DISAPPEAR!" Bunnymund breathed out hotly, coming close enough to feel Jack's cool breath on his nose, hissing: "I don't want to EVER SEE YOU here again. Since the day you appeared you RUINED my LIFE. So DISAPPEAR. FUCKING DISAPPEAR AND NEVER COME BACK!"

He had thought that all tunnels had been closed, thought that he would have been able to lock himself away and endure the heat in silence. He didn't know how he had even been able to paint all the eggs properly and send them on their way, the increasing heat making it more and more difficult until he had given up. He had just wanted to endure the terrible heat, to wait until this torture was over, the desire, the need to mate with the one he wanted the most- Jack Frost. He hadn't wanted this to happen, never, hadn't wanted to let anyone see him in this state. But, of course, fate hadn't left him in peace. No, it had to send him Jack down into the warren, of all persons the last one he had wanted to see at that time.

The moment he had seen the lean teenager he hadn't been able to hold back any longer, the feelings of desperation, anger and pure desire over seething, setting his body on fire- then, the breaking of some of his most precious possessions. That had been the last straw, and faced with the only options- to either rape Jack and then get hated by him or chasing him away with anger- he chose the last. It had been the only thing, his escape and he had blindly taken it, the only thing he had been able to do in defense had been to lash out. Hard. He regretted his words the moment they slipped through his mouth, desperately wanting nothing more than to grab them and stuff them back down his self acting mouth, but it was too late. The words, spit out like venomous arrows, were out, out of his control, having been fueled by his state of heat.

He saw how Jack's brilliant blue eyes widened, practically _feeling it- a strange, painful ripping in his chest- _how the words pierced right through him, ripping, breaking his heart apart. His face, this beautiful pale face which was normally so happy and gleeful, always adored with a smile or grin...At that moment it was open like never before, without anything covering it. The winter spirit had never looked so vulnerable, so _young, _eyes wide open, something glittering in the corners of them, lips slightly open and trembling almost invisibly.

His eyes, which were normally able to hide anything if necessary were like see through mirrors, pain breaking them, making them splinter without a sound. All of this only lasted for three seconds. In the next moment Jack lowered his face slightly before looking up again, his face now was completely blank, free of any emotion. It was like he had put on a mask, smooth like a frozen lake and impenetrable- and as cold and hard at the same time. "I see", he slowly said before he smiled widely, a broad, completely empty smile which would have fooled anyone else - but not the rabbit in front of him.

"I see. If it's like that...then I'll be going. Bye. I'm sorry that I ruined your life Bunnymund".

With that the younger guardian turned around stiffly, something glittery slipping through his fingers before he jumped into the air, flying at high speed back into the tunnel. The giant rabbit stared after him before sinking down, groaning softly at the pulsing heat in his body before staring at his hands, whispering:

"What have I done?" He stood up again, feeling an inexplicable pain ripping at his heart, pain so terrible that he couldn't stop himself and howled:

"WHAT HAVE I DONE?!" In the next second he turned around and raced back into his house, locking himself in.

Somewhere, not far away from the house, in a grass basin, an ice egg lay there, unnoticed, next to a few mossy rocks. A crack had broken through the smooth, ornate surface, glittering bluish in the warm sun light of the warren.

**Ugh, so, what do you think? feeling tired**

**How was it? Bad? Good? Terrible? Strange? Ridiculous?**

**Did it suck? Where the characters too OOC?**

**( One of my greatest fear, making characters act TOO STRANGE)**

**I feel so sorry, to have done this to poor Jack...**

**Not like poor Bunny isn't feeling some pain as well, so please don't bash him too much...**

**Anyway, I think I hear my bed calling...*stares longingly at it***

**So, I'll say bye for now!**

**Your author Kamo-chan**

**REVIEWS PLEASE!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello my dear readers!**

**So, finally, after a long wait for you...chapter three of _Infected_!**

**Got me longer busy then I thought before, but oh well.**

**This one turned out long, too- it would've been even longer if I hadn't decided to put one part into the next chapter.**

**This is also the next to last chapter, chapter 4 will be the final one.**

**Soo...I'll just let you read, right?**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ROTG or any characters of it, otherwise Bunny and Jack would be rolling in the hay- or grass, I guess- in an extra, special clip for adults only. No, I'm not the least ashamed about that.**

Jack had always thought of himself as someone strong, someone who didn't got shaken by things so easily. After all, he had endured three hundred years all on his own, unseen and so damn lonely. Never knowing why he became what he was and why. He would have laughed at himself bitterly now if he had been able to laugh now. He had been stupid. So stupid. That pain was nothing. That pain was a piece of cake.

That pain felt like softly floating in warm water, the wind caressing his skin and hair, like a gentle kiss on his lips and a hug for his heart. If he were able to choose he would have rather stayed that way, forever alone and unseen then to feel like _that _now. This pain was worse, worse then anything he had ever experienced. The pain after being treated like that, of hearing those hard, venomous words...

He had fled to the Antarctica, the last resort his numb mind had been able to come up with, where he could be alone. For the first time in his long life, the white hurt his eyes, too bright, too...pure, untouched, still whole but he landed nevertheless. Landing stiffly he actually stumbled over a little, skidding to a hold while panting before he ran over the snow, further away from the coast until his legs gave in.

He doubled over, almost falling, staring at the snow before he slowly sunk down, unable to hold back any longer. Jack gasped, trying to breath slowly, trying to stop himself from hyperventilating, to hold it back, suppress the overwhelming pain- but it was too much. Pale fingers arched, burying themselves into the snow underneath his trembling body while his mouth slowly opened, only air escaping before he found his voice again.

The scream exploded from his throat like a wild beast, tearing through the icy air like a force of nature, louder then anything else which had ever sound in this ice desert and making the cold air tremble under the pressure. Oh god, it hurt too much, too much. His heart was bleeding, breaking apart in pieces, destroyed by the one he had fallen for, crumbling. Tears rolled down his pale cheeks, freezing immediately in response to his powers while he continued to scream.

The pain of being _hurt, _betrayed, treated like _that_ from the person he had completely fallen in love with- it was like his heart was slowly being ripped apart. Like he was invisible all over again and slowly bleeding to death, calling for help- but no one did see him. Like he was drowning all over again. Like he was walking over shards of glass, ripping open his bare feet.

Like he was slowly suffocating in ice, crawling over his mouth, nose, body, until there was nothing left of him. Like the darkness was swallowing him, devouring his body, his mind. Like he was burned alive from the inside. No, it was too much. Too much to bear. Around him the air vibrated when his powers awakened, in response to the pain eating him alive and the emotions pouring out of him.

Alongside his scream the wind roared, violently whipping through the air before everything exploded in a giant blizzard storm, destroying everything in it's path with no mercy and lightning speed. The force of it made the ground shake, cracks appearing in the ice before freezing over again in the next second, ice flying through the air like razor sharp shrapnels. But Jack didn't notice anything of it, the tears making his eyes blind while he screamed out his pain until his throat was hoarse.

The white haired spirit didn't know how long he had been doing this, but when his mind slowly started to clear after what seemed like an eternity he was laying curled up in the snow, cheek pressed into the calming cold. The young guardian slowly sat up, staring at his surrounding with dry eyes which took in the destruction of everything. Everywhere were now frozen over cracks, snow plates sticking out of the ground randomly, fresh snow and ice covering everything and making it look like a bomb field.

But the blue eyed male's mind was still too numb to really grasp everything, so he just stood up and, faltering a bit, dragged himself back into his secret snow cave, the only resort he had right now. His feet felt heavy, far too heavy to lift, but...He had nowhere else to go. Not anymore. Not after these words being said to him. Just like bullets, they had pierced through his heart with ease.

They had destroyed the thinned out shields around his darkest fears which had kept them locked away. And now...he didn't want to think about it. It hurt too much. All he wanted to do now was to sleep, to sleep and drown for a while in the depths of this other world, where only good things happened. Maybe he would fall asleep and never wake up again, if he was lucky. He forced his numb body to sit down, staying like this for a minute before he finally curled up like an embryo, unconsciously wishing he could become a part with the snow and disappear.

_/ Please...let me fall asleep...and never let me wake up again.../_ His mind, devoid of any really focused thought aside from this one sharp, whispered before quieting again. He felt so tired, so...hollow and empty. Like someone had burned everything inside of him, and all that was left was this shell, this thin, pale doll. Sitting in a corner without a sound.

Tired. He was so tired. It hurt too much to think, to speak, to be even _awake _at all. So, without a sound, without any resistance, he let his body sink onto the ground, eyelashes fluttering one last time. Sleep. That was all he wanted now. So he fell asleep, inwardly wounded, bleeding, broken. Without thinking about the destruction outside his breakdown had caused- he hadn't wanted to, couldn't. There had only been destruction anyway, proving what Bunny had said.

So he let go, falling into the endless, calming depths of sleep. Outside, the fresh snow and ice glittered coldly under the light of the sun setting down, but the normally pure white and transparent blue wasn't pure anymore. It was darkened, crisscrossed by streaks of faint, glittery black, laying like a breath of darkness over everything.

_Dark. It was dark, too dark. He couldn't see a thing. Where was he? He was scared. He didn't know why, but he was so scared. The next thing he noticed was that it was cold, really cold. His body,his hands, feet, even his insides, stomach, heart, everything felt cold, ice water instead of blood being pumped through his veins. Too cold. He felt like he would freeze to death in the next moment, freeze over like an ice statue. His feet moved, one hesitant step into the darkness, and in the next second he lost the ground underneath him. _

_His scream was almost immediately interrupted,choked, and suddenly it was even more colder, shocking his whole body, his brain. Water everywhere, around him, inside him, suffocating him, filling his mouth when he tried to scream, only air bubbles rising up. He tried to get up, reach the surface while struggling against the cold, but there was no hole, only smooth, solid ice pressing against his hands. He couldn't breath, couldn't swim, couldn't breath, someone had to save him, couldn't breath, why was no one there, he needed airhelpmehelpmehelpmeairneed airhecouldn'tbreath- _

With a scream Jack bounced up, blue eyes wide in horror while he panted hard. Trembling he sat up and pressed himself into a corner of his cave, hands gripping his staff so hard that his knuckles were white. What...what was that? That hadn't been a dream. That, that had been..._Ice cold water, __surrounding him, he couldn't swim, couldn't breath, no one was there, why was no one there- _

"No! No! Stop it, stop it, stop it! I don't want to remember, I don't!", he gasped, pressing his eyes shut, fighting the memory.

He didn't want to see it again, feel it again. He had almost forgotten it, that memory he had gotten back after his encounter with Pitch, when his staff had been broken and there was nothing left to do. With a soundless cry he violently shoved it back, refusing to let the memory rise again into his mind so clear.

After doing that he just sat there for a while, simply trying to breath slowly again and calm down the trembling of his body. Out of all times, why did this memory appear now? He didn't understand it, but guessed it was because he hadn't tried to re-live his re won memories again, to get used to them. He had tried, the second night after their defeat of Pitch, but as soon as he had closed his eyes and remembered it had overwhelmed him like a shock wave. It had hurt too much, to see, live through them, to remember what had happened- pictures of big brown eyes, so scared, staring into his own, the white, white snow, ice cracking underneath his feet, shock, her scream, his name on her lips, ice cold water, and he couldn't breath, couldn't breath anymore-

"NO!", he whimpered, holding his head before shaking it forcefully, trying to hold back the fear and nausea which threatened to take control. No, he couldn't let it take control of him, couldn't let, didn't want to remember, couldn't let- Jack breathed out slowly before he lifted his hand, creating a long, thin and sharp piece of ice and- drove it through his left hand.

Hard.

"...! ". the winter spirit arched up, letting the pain course through him. His mouth was shut tight while his face scrunched up in terrible pain before he opened his mouth, letting the held back air escape in a hissed, silent scream. Panting he stared at his hand, the ice blade had gone straight through, blood oozing out around where it had destroyed skin, muscles and bones. It hurt terribly- but the nausea, the panic and pure, overwhelming _fear _were gone, replaced by the sharp throbbing in his hand.

It was a clean, good feeling compared to the other, blocking out the torturous memory and the feelings connected with it. Jack grabbed the ice piece and roughly pulled it out, biting into his lower lip to suppress any sound before he threw away the ice shrapnel and stared at the hole in his left hand. It still oozed blood generously. Blue eyes narrowed slightly in concentration, and in the next second ice crept over the skin, closing the blood weeping wound and sealing it. It would heal in a few days, maybe longer, maybe shorter- he didn't really care. As long as it still hurt and suppressed the memory of his...dream he didn't care.

The winter spirit slowly stood up and gripped his staff, climbing to the surface where the wind greeted him, just like always. But he didn't manage to smile- all he was able to produce was the weak lifting of one corner of his mouth. He slowly lifted his fingers to stroke the wind.

" S' alright, wind. Just dreamed a little wild, that's all", he whispered.

He didn't have to be afraid, not anymore, after all, it had been just a dream. A not so nice dream maybe, a piece of his memory, but nothing to be afraid of- all he had to do was to lock it away. And even if it had been a nightmare, a little one, it didn't matter. He wasn't stupid. He knew there still were nightmares- not everyone could dream good every night, they hadn't just disappeared because Pitch had been defeated. They were still there in the world, they were needed, to keep the balance. And it wasn't like Sandy could always make sure he dreamed well- not like he wanted to, he didn't need to be babied.

He'd rather have another one then remember those venomous words shot at him by-

The teenager's body stiffened while his grip tightened around his staff, producing a cracking sound.

"No, stop that. Don't think about it", he murmured and breathed it, shoving the screaming, weeping memory away.

"Don't think about it. You don't need them. You don't need anyone. You don't need _him_. Not at all...you'll be fine. You managed 300 years all alone, so who cares about what _he _said? Who cares?"

He tried to laugh, like he used to do all time, but...no matter how much he tried, the laugh he produced sounded...horrible. False. Empty. Broken. Like it came from some rusty, old flute someone had forgotten in a corner, letting it get dusty. And then, remember it, pick it up out of curiosity- just to test it- and play a few tunes. Just to hear those horrible sounds. He abruptly closed his mouth again, dropping the laughing while he straightened up, whispering:

"Who cares?"

Abruptly, he propelled himself into the air, flying through the air at high speed. It wasn't important, his feelings didn't matter. Not anymore. It was better to stop thinking about it and do some work, to deliver snow and ice to cities like he was supposed to. He demanded the wind to be faster, letting it whip against his body, his face faster, ignoring the glistening drop which had managed to escape one of his eyes. The tear slid down his cheek, only to freeze immediately before the wind ripped it off, whirling it away into the gray sky. The wires sizzled loudly, louder then usual when naked, pale feet wandered over them, wrapping them in thin ice layers. But Jack didn't notice it, didn't think at all. He was like a hollow shell, not thinking, just walking, moving his body where he needed to be.

The laughter of children made him turn his head, he could see them running into the park where they probably would start up a snowball fight. Earlier he would have loved nothing more then to join in, and maybe see if some of them could see him now, but...Not anymore. He just wanted to be alone. No laughter, no talking, no meeting at all. The winter spirit wandered over the roof, practically dragging his staff behind before he breathed out, calling out his powers of snow and ice.

The gust of cold wind came immediately, surprising his numb mind a little- the force of it was a bit greater then he had thought. Snow flakes flew through the air thickly, showering the city generously- but not that gently. Jack could feel it in the air, tiny pieces of ice flying around as well, roughing up his skin a little, tiny pricks. Just a little- that wasn't too bothersome. He moved his right hand, to lead the snow a bit away from the streets, only to wince in surprise when a stinging shot through his hand.

Jack gasped lightly, eyes shutting for a second- only to be bombarded by pieces of his dream from last night, making him cry out silently.

"N-no, no, stop it", he gasped, arching over while pressing his hands against his pounding temples.

"STOP IT!"

The wind flared up, more wildly, for a moment the snow- and the ice pieces- got harder, stronger, _sharper_, before the pain ebbed away, as quick as it had come. At the same time the wind and snow calmed down a bit, the ice disappeared, leaving the winter spirit shaken and unsure. What had that been? A flashback? He covered his eyes, breathing in slowly before pressing with his right hand against his left one, wincing at the sharp pain.

The young guardian stood up, shaking his head before he dragged himself over to the edge of the building, casting one, last look at the city. Whatever, it had just been a flashback. He squinted his tired eyes a little, staring more closely. Something was strange about the snow, it almost seemed...darker, kind of...dirty...No, must have been his imagination, it was as always. He had brought enough snow to this city. There were still other cities. With one, hard push he shot into the air.

While he flew he couldn't help but remember what had happened before, that strange slip when he had wanted to lead the wind away, the pain which had flared up. The way his powers had grown suddenly, blocking, bucking up, almost like...Another stinging shot through his head and he gritted his teeth, closing his eyes while feeling dazed.

He was so tired, he needed...sleep. Inside his mind, something, a tiny fraction of fear, rose up, only to be immediately suppressed by him. It had been just a dream, a little...flashback. Surely it wouldn't happen again. With this thought on his mind he sunk down onto the ground, in his snow hollow, curling up like always. He was so tired- everything hurt, and he just wanted to sleep in peace, the only comfort he had left. If he only knew.

_-Water everywhere, around him, inside him, suffocating him, filling his mouth when he tried to scream, only air bubbles rising up. He tried to get up, reach the surface while struggling against the cold, but there was no hole, only smooth, solid ice pressing against his hands. He couldn't breath, couldn't swim, couldn't breath, someone had to save him, couldn't breath, why was no one there, he needed airhelpmehelpmehelpmeairneed airhecouldn'tbreath- _

Third night.

_-Bunny's eyes, the way they pierced through him, so angry, angry at him, those wild green eyes, looking at him like that. It hurt to look at him, but he was unable to move, unable to properly response, only able to stutter while he stumbled backwards. He was pinned under that look which felt like a violent slap against his face, his skin, making it burn. And then his mouth opened- only to spit out words. Terrible, sharp, painful words. And they hit him, hit him straight into his heart, in his core. All he could do was stare, stare at the one he loved the most, spitting out those venomous words. Inwardly he cried out, pure, sheer pain, ripping him apart, hurting him where it hurt the most. And he felt himself breaking, crumbling apart like old pastry while Bunny's words trampled all over his heart, destroying him-_

Fourth night.

_- he flew through the air, heart filled with both joy and confusion, a nervous giddiness, more crashing then landing on the ground. But it didn't matter, he had just flown- flown!- through the air, and landed more or less properly, not far away from the start of the village. Why had nobody said anything? Someone had just flown down, from the sky! It didn't matter. Laughing breathlessly he pulled himself up and started greeting everyone enthusiastically, waving left and right, to the two women walking just past him, a group of men discussing something. But, after a few seconds, when no one waved back, he realized something wasn't right. He cried out to them, demanding why they didn't react, didn't they know it was rude?- when a group of laughing children ran straight through him. He staggered backwards, eyes wide open, realizing- that they didn't see him. Didn't hear him, didn't feel him- did he even exist at all for them? Was he just a ghost, a memory- WHY DIDN'T THEY SEE HIM-_

Two weeks later.

He was tired. So tired. But he couldn't fall asleep. Jack clenched his staff, eyes blindly staring at the white wall of snow in front of him while forcing himself to stay awake. His eyelids, heavy with exhaustion and fear, sank down, only to be opened up a second later. No, he couldn't fall asleep, he couldn't- mustn't, didn't want to fall asleep. He grabbed one of the many ice pieces laying around, broken rests of an ice pillar.

Swiftly rolling up the sleeve of his left arm he searched for the right place before taking the ice piece and starting to cut slowly, drawing a bright, red line over his pale skin. One more next to dozens, littered all over his arms, pale scars, some fresh, some already fading. They went on, though, not only on his arms but everywhere now over his body. He had no other thing to keep himself awake- nothing except his powers. And he didn't want to use them- he feared that one of the others might come and look for him.

He didn't want to dream of...these _things_, these..._memories_. _/ It hurt it hurt it hurt make it stop make it stop- / _- he shook his head, trying to suppress the memories, pictures of these..._things_, trying to think of something else. But it was difficult, so difficult, to not fall asleep, even if he cut his body- but if he gave in, those dreadful memories, _things_, would pop up in his mind again, in his dreams, when he was all alone and vulnerable, open to any attack at his mind.

He couldn't fall asleep. But he was strong, right? He could go on without sleep- he was a spirit after all, and spirits didn't really need to sleep.

And he still had his duty as a guardian, as a winter spirit, to bring the ice and snow to the world. Not to mention it was the only thing which could probably distract him temporarily from his...problem. He didn't want to think about it. All he wanted to do was to do what he had always done, to make the children laugh in joy at the snow. To see their smile, the sparkling in their eyes and let it make him forget at least for a minute what had happened.

He had neglected his duty long enough, during these two weeks he hadn't even once gone outside. The blue eyed spirit climbed to the top of his cave, hissing when another wave of pain shot from his right hand through his whole body. He swayed for a moment, fighting for balance before he caught himself and used his staff as a support.

"Wind!", he called, waiting for the soft, cool wind which would carry him to the cities which needed to be iced and snowed in.

He didn't expected the violent blow which hit him out of the blue, almost throwing him off his feet. Shocked he struggled for a stance while grabbing after his magic to take control of the wind- and for the first time ever in his life, his goddamn long life it didn't work. His magic stuttered before suddenly going onto maximum level, twisting out of control and making the wind howl with force, snow and ice particles whipping against his face.

Jack panted, fighting against the utter exhaustion while he tried to reach his magic, to get a grasp on it. It rebelled, violently fought against him, twisting, sliding through his grip like a giant snake, like he was trying to press a tornado into a jam jar.

"Get- back, I won't let- you-", he hissed through gritted teeth, pressing, pushing with his pure will strength against the aggressive magic.

His head started to throb in pain, making him feel dizzy and almost lose his stance while he pushed with all the force he could muster up, feet slipping in the snow. For one, terrible moment he thought he had lost it, balancing between gaining the control back and the total loss of it. The magic roared one, last time before it slowed down, smoothing out like the sea after a storm. Panting the white haired teenager leaned again his staff, feeling drained of any power inside him, pain making his head swim and his body ache, sharp and stinging. What...what had that been?

His magic hadn't obeyed him, hadn't stayed in his control...head still slightly throbbing he finally managed to stand up straight after the worst pain had subsided.

"...".

The nausea was still there, but he didn't dwelt over it, not really caring, as long as his magic was under his control again. Something wet dripped down over his lip, making him twitch in surprise.

"What is that-", interrupting himself he stared at his fingers which were stained a dark, liquid red.

He slowly touched his nose, feeling the wetness of the liquid dripping down. Blood. His body was literally fighting against itself. Just...why? What was wrong with him? But...He didn't have time for this, he still had to do his duty. Propelling himself into the air he let the wind carry him to the city, missing the roof he had intended to land on and instead fell down onto a lower one. He narrowly avoided to crash and stumbled the last few meters, gripping onto his staff for support when another headache rolled over him.

He breathed out sharply, letting it course through his body before it subsided, then he stood up again. It all didn't matter. He was a guardian, even if his body was falling apart- it didn't matter anymore. The only purpose his life now had left was to do what he had already done before he became a guardian. He would still bring the snow and ice to the children, no matter if his heart and mind were broken by the person he had fallen for. It didn't matter. All he wanted to do now was to make it snow, to hear the laughter and joy of the children. So he took a deep breath, straightening up before he tried to concentrate and closed his blue eyes, reaching for his magic. That time before with the wind had just been a slip, a small mistake, because he hadn't used any of his powers at all during those two weeks. He had just been out of training, out of practice. It wouldn't happen again.

The moment he touched his magic and the pain flared up immediately he knew he had been wrong. So wrong. He screamed out, body arching up when the pain shot through him, ripping through his body violently and without mercy. _/ NO! / _ He blindly tried to keep the magic under wraps, to keep it low, but it was impossible- the pain was too strong.

"N-no, please, don't- n-no-", he whimpered, crooking up on the roof.

One, two, three more seconds and the magic twisted through his weakened fingers, breaking free. Around him the air flared up when his magic slipped through his thin control and practically exploded. The wind started to howl loudly and the temperature suddenly dropped several degree, turning the former lukewarm air into a freezing hell.

Clouds accumulated in the sky, gray and dark, immediately starting to snow so strong that you could see nothing at all, millions of thick, grayish snow flakes in strangely twisted pattern and blackish ice splinters flying through the air. Jack whimpered, fighting for air while trying to stand up. His body burnt like liquid fire, eating it's way through him, through his skin, fat and muscles, deep into his bones. It felt like he really was set on fire, his skin burning away, and with a cry he ripped his sleeve up. Only to stare in horror at his arm. The skin was still pale and smooth- aside from the self inflicted scars- but that wasn't what was shocking him. Because underneath the skin, just below the surface, were-

Screams.

The sound of humans screaming down on the streets, full of panic and fear, the sound of something crashing into each other. It ripped through his ears, making him freeze in shock before another wave of pain burnt through him, making him cry out. Oh god, please not. _Please not._ Anything but this. Struggling he slowly stood up and pulled down his sleeve, heavily leaning on his staff before he tried to call for the wind, to carry him down, to stop this _madness and destruction_. But it didn't react to his silent call, leaving him with no other choice then to climb down, as good as he could with his body pulsing in pain. But he couldn't let this happen. He had already lost control of anything else, and if he now lost this as well-

The last meters he almost feel, only thanks to his staff he managed to stand, gasping for air before he blinked through the heavy snow flying through the air, his blue eyes widening when he saw everything. At that moment he almost wished he was blind. N_o. _The streets were a chaos, pure, sheer chaos. Cars had crashed into each other when their drivers hadn't been able to see anything any longer, or had lost control of their car because of the deathly glassy ice over the whole street and probably everywhere in the city.

At some parts it just were two cars, but not too rarely it were more, wedged into each other horribly, one big truck having simply smashed several cars under it's weigh like flies. Fire burned on several of them, throwing flickering, yellow light onto the terrible scene splayed out in front of him. He could see, hear the humans running, tumbling through the chaos, some without a scratch, some more injured in different ways. But they were all screaming in horror, yelling, asking why this had happened, yelling names of other people- he could make out the shapes of several humans in or around their car, laying still, way too still, dark puddles around them.

He stumbled backwards, trembling now with both pain and horror. What had he done? Just what had he done? He had to do something, anything- desperately he screamed for his magic, to make it stop this bloody blizzard and storm he had unleashed. But it didn't work, his magic had gone wild, out of control, not reacting to him. The immortal teenager ran forward, tumbling as well, not noticing how the humans he passed were shivering in their jackets, lips and faces stiff with cold, almost bluish, how their breath clouded in front of them.

Didn't notice how thick the ice glistened on his hoodie, crunching with every movement, how the ice spread even further when his feet touched it. The ice crunched under his feet while he stumbled, slipping, pulling himself up to continue his search for something, any thing he could do. More than once he almost feel, gasping at the terrible, painful feeling when people ran through him, not seeing him, but he didn't stop. But no matter where he looked- he couldn't do a thing.

They didn't see him- and so he couldn't touch them, couldn't pull them out of burning cars or out from wreck parts. The realization hit him like a slap across his face. Still he continued to stumble through the chaos he had created- _/- his fault, all his fault-/_, stopping when he heard a voice, barely audible over the screams and howling of the wind. The voice of a child.

He froze, one, two seconds- then he ran forward, stumbling, falling down, picking himself up again, searching for that voice. And then he finally found it's source. It came from a car which had crashed into a tree at the side of the street, another one having crashed into it. It was a little girl, her lower body being buried under parts of the destroyed cars. She was crying, her eyes huge and wide open in pain, her light brown hair matted to her head on the left side, dark with blood.

It stained her face and her green jacket, pooling underneath her where she was laying, her hands weakly scratching over the dirty and icy ground. His heart, having beaten way too fast before slowed, almost to the point of completely stopping while he stared at her, mind frozen. He knew her. She was the eighth child who had started believing in him, a shy girl who was a play mate from one of Jamie's friends.

He remembered how her brown eyes had widened in wonder when she had first seen him, giggling when he had breathed out a snowflake. She wanted to become an artist. Her name was Nora. He stepped forward, numbly, forcing his pain filled body forward until he reached her and fell onto his legs, staring at her. Her head turned, having heard something, then she stared at him, tears running down her face.

"J-jack?", she cried, trying to wipe her eyes clean which produced a red smear of blood over her cheek.

He nodded, trying to smile at her but his mouth failed him, just thinking of what he could do.

"It h-hurts Jack", she sobbed, "And M-mommy and Daddy a-aren't here, I'm so scared! P- please, help me!"

"I-it's gonna be alright don't worry", he heard himself say, "I'll save you, j-just see".

He stood up with effort, stumbling over to the wreck before he started to pull on them, trying to get them off her. But it was useless, the wreck parts didn't budge and he was too weak, he couldn't even call the wind to maybe make it whirl a few parts away. He didn't notice that her breath puffed out in small clouds, the trembling of her little body caused by the cold - caused by him. Didn't hear the sizzling of ice spreading underneath his feet, around the accident place and beneath the girl, making part of the blood freeze. Didn't notice how colder it got, the cold slowly sucking out the warmth from the girl's body, deep from the bones.

"Getoffgetoffgetoff", he chanted, desperately, gasping, fighting- but it was useless.

Trembling he gave up and sunk down exhausted, crawling over to her. She was still struggling weakly, her hands trying to pull herself away- but the wreck parts were far too heavy for a little girl aged nine.

"It hurts", she whimpered, and all Jack could do was to stare at the dark pool of blood underneath her, staining her small body.

"Jack, I'm c-cold", she whispered once more, her huge eyes looking at him while she reached out with her bloody hands.

"It's gonna b-be alright", he answered, feeling like he would faint at any minute, "I'm sure your parents will be here soon".

The white haired teenager reached out for her, one hand shakily stroking her cheek, the other one taking her hand. He didn't realize at first why her trembling got even worse, making his weak hands shake slightly, too- and when he did it was too late. Her face, which had already been pale from the blood loss, had lost even more color, taking on a bluish color while she tried to speak, her pale lips barely able to move:

"J...Jack, I-m …..c-cold...".

"Th-that's just the blood loss. Hang on, okay? Your parents will come soon, I think I c-can see them coming!"

"...cold...", she whispered, her eyes slowly closing, barely open now, "Mommy...and...Daddy...h-here -s-soon...?"

"Yeah, they are, hang in Nora, p-please", he begged, tears starting to run down his cheeks, immediately freezing and falling down, hitting the ground with a light clanging.

"...mh...they a-are?...Jack...th-thank y-you...I'll t-tell Mommy and D-daddy you h-helped me...".

The little girl murmured the words, a faint smile on her stiff lips before her eyes fluttered one more time, slowly closing.

"Hey Nora! Don't, hang in there! Please, open your eyes-", Jack begged, lightly slapping her cheek.

But she didn't react anymore, neither to his cries nor him shaking her and squeezing her hand. He reached out once more, fingers touching her throat, looking for the pulse, next her breathing. But there was none. She was dead. The knowledge hit him like someone had just shot a bullet through his chest, burning and painful.

With a gasp he fell back, staring at the smiling, peaceful looking dead girl. No. No, that couldn't be. She couldn't be dead, she was just nine and wanted to become an artist. She was too young to die like that, buried under the wreck of a car. Trembling he reached out, gently touching her blood smeared cheek, stroking the matted brown hair. Only then he noticed how strangely stiff her hair felt like, the tips were glittering, the bluish tint her skin had taken on- just like it had been so cold she had frozen to death-

With his blue eyes wide open he reeled backwards, nearly falling when he hastily tried to stand up. Just in time he managed to catch himself, one hand scarping over the frozen ground while the other landed close to the dead girl. Quickly Jack pulled his hand back, staring at the dark red ice clinging to his hand, red ice, smelling metallic and heavy. The white haired male gasped, his breath starting to get faster while he looked back at Nora - and he saw everything.

The way her hair was stiff because it was frozen, ice glittering in it, her skin pale and bluish because of the warmth loss. The thin ice pattern on her clothes which were frozen stiff with cold. The frozen ground and blood puddle underneath her- he could hear the sizzling of blood freezing where it had just left her now cold body, the last warmth being sucked from within a second.

He had done this. He had killed her. It was his fault that she had died before anyone could have helped her. Because of his cold. His cold had stolen her warmth away until her body hadn't been able to work any longer, until it had been simply too cold for her heart to beat any longer. He had frozen her to death. Jack took one, two steps backwards, starting to hyperventilate. He had done this. It was his fault.

_/ - his fault his fault his fault his fault only his killer killer he was a killer a killer a monster a __monster he had killed a girl who had believed in him monster monster he was dangerous dangerous run away run away- / _

Jack screamed, a terrible, broken sound while tears streamed down his face, freezing immediately like always while around him the blizzard clamored. The air, already overfull with his magic, reacted once more, and in the next second the sky seemed to be on fire- lightnings twitching through the air violently, pure destruction. In the next second Jack jumped up, running, running, running.

Blind with tears stinging in his eyes he called out again and again before he was suddenly swept off his feet, a violent wind gust, colder then any other wind, had caught him and now whirled him high up in the air. Somehow, with the last piece of strength and control he had managed to press together he landed in the Antarctica, with ice scratched cheeks and hollow eyes before hiding away in the deepest part of his cave, far away from anything. He had never wished so much for his life to end.

Around the same time, in another place.

Green. Some purple. Then a bit yellow, to paint some flowers underneath the green circles...furry, nimble fingers moved the brush quickly, but with great care, creating a beautiful egg. "There you go, all pretty ya little one", Bunny mumbled, gently putting the egg down which immediately ran over to it's friends, running around happily. The big rabbit watched the group of little eggs he had painted for fun- but somehow the joy and satisfaction he normally felt when trying out new patterns didn't come.

"Dammit", Bunny growled and briskly stood up, wanting to practice a bit. Maybe training with his boomerangs would help him feel a little better. His eyes, sweeping over everything in his surroundings, fell on a little blue egg among the others, making him freeze immediately, memories rushing through his mind. _Blue. Brilliant icy blue eyes, staring at him wide open, so vulnerable, breaking, cracking like a mirror- _

"Stop it!", he hissed, holding his head before he angrily stood up and punched a tree, making it tremble with the force. He didn't want to remember what he had done- it hurt so much, to know what he had done, overwhelming guilt and deep pain burning underneath his skin, making him feel sick. How could he have done this? To the one he had fallen for? To Jack?

There had been no excuse for what he done to him. No excuse could have made up for that. He could still remember it so vividly, like it had just happened yesterday. Well, how could he, when he had driven the other one away so cruelly, more cruelly then he had wanted. But he had been so desperate...The heat had hurt so much, driving him crazy, making him loose his mind. He had been on the verge of snapping, of completely loosing himself to that wild and animal side inside him. All he had wanted was to be left alone, to endure this days of torture, not only filled with the painful, clamoring need to mate but also with the knowledge that Jack would never really love him.

And because he had been careless Jack had been able to invade the warren. He hadn't wanted him to see him like _that- _especially like _that. _He could still remember the way his body had shook with the heat, the painful desire, the need to mate- with Jack. Jack, who had been so close, close enough to fill the air around him with his smell. Jack who hadn't had a clue what effect his presence had on Bunny at that time. He had been so close, so _close _to completely loose control and simply throw the winter spirit onto the ground and to take him until he couldn't even scream anymore.

He had been so close, so close to hurt Jack in way he would have never forgiven himself. And in his desperate, half insane state of mind he had done the only thing he had been able to do. He had used his painful, deep feelings of love for the younger male, the sharp, suffocating desire to take him - to lash out at him, yell at him. Shaping them into hurtful, cruel words, the only weapon, the only defense he had had left to push Jack away. To chase him away instead of raping him, instead of then having to see the hate and disgust in those blue eyes. He would have rather died then to do something unforgivable and then deal once more with losing the one he loved.

Only to regret these words the moment they were spit out, realizing too late what damage they would do. Bunny had said everything, everything Jack should have never heard, hitting every single, most tender point inside him. But it had been too late, too late to change that- all he had been able to do was to watch Jack's back who had practically fled from the warren. He had never hated himself more than at this moment. He had spent the next four days locked up in his house, curled up in a corner while trying not to rut against his own hands, desperate and disgusted with himself and denying himself any sort of sexual relief as a punishment.

After the heat had finally been over, leaving him still feeling uncomfortable and tense he had mostly stayed in his warren. The big rabbit had rarely left at all, just a few times to send an egg to North, that he had taken a break- he hadn't wanted to meet any of the other guardians at all. Especially not if that meant to be face to face with Jack again, after what had happened in the warren.

He had decided to stay away, to let grass 'grow' over it and hope the winter spirit would have recovered until the next guardian meeting he knew North would force everyone to go for sure. Instead of going to the surface and maybe wander a bit through his home Australia he had busied himself with painting new patterns, training his fighting skills, mediating and cleaning up.

But nothing had been able to really take his mind off that scene between Jack and him, not more then a few minutes at all. And even then, there had been a strange pressure in his mind, a bad...feeling. Like something wasn't right, like something had gone horrible wrong. A pressure on both his mind and heart, pulling and stinging, making him all tensed and uneasy, making his instincts run wild.

And once, this giant outburst of pure...power, far away from him and yet so strong that it left a trembling aftermath in the air even after having vanished as fast as it had come. What had that been? And why had it happened? What was this pressure which made him feel so strangely uneasy and nervous, almost in panic? Nothing was wrong down here in the warren- and if there had been something wrong with the children he would have immediately felt it.

Bunny stared, watching how his little eggs played with each other, playing catch or simply tumbling over each other. A few of them came over to him, scurrying around his feet, one particular determined to climb up his legs which was kind of impossible with only two little legs. He had to snort involuntarily at that, one corner of his mouth twitching up while he picked it up, holding it close to his face and letting it walk over his hand. It was the small blue one, the one with a blue which reminded him so much of a certain spirit's eyes. Gently he nudged it, watching it march back and forth on his hand.

"What do you think I should do, hmm?", he murmured.

"Do you think I should try to find him and...apologize? He is pretty stubborn. I bet he is still totally pissed off and angry, not to mention hurt. Would he...even listen to what I'd try and say? But then he'll want to know why I even treated him that way- and I don't know how to tell him without saying everything...".

Bunny sighed softly, eyes looking at the egg, but his mind was far away.

"Isn't it ironic? After all these years I spent heartbroken, after _her_ I thought I would never be able to love someone that much. And then it happens, I fall in love again, knowing he will never love me back- and what do I do? I hurt him, chased him away like a bad person. I'm so stupid...why did I even let these feelings form...I can still smell him here...".

It was still there, that smell- Jack's unique, own smell, sometimes softer, sometimes stronger when he walked through his warren- but always there. That smell of ice, snow and frozen sugar, with a weird tone of peppermint creaminess, mixed with the smell of...freedom and wildness. His smell. Why was it still here? It had been over two weeks ago when he had been here, but it was still here. Or was he just going mad? Had he lost his mind? Did he just imagine -

Something next to him rustled and he looked down, seeing one of his eggs carrying a paper tied with a ribbon on it. "North", Bunny mumbled and picked it up, taking the paper of it before he set the little egg free. "What does he want this time...". He read the message which was against all odds, very short this time, the message clipped and clear: _" Bunny. Come to my place. Guardian meeting, is very important. It is about Jack. North." _

The paper fell down with a soft rustling, Bunny staring at it before he shook himself and catapulted himself forward, his long, strong legs carrying him through one of his tunnels in mere seconds, faster then ever before. All the way through his tunnel he cursed himself for not having acted on his feelings. His instincts had been right after all. He just hadn't thought it would be about the winter spirit. About two minutes later, breathing only slightly heavier then usually he arrived at North's place, not even a bit surprised to see that North was already awaiting him. A few minutes later Sandy sailed through the open window, wearing a deeply worried expression, shortly followed by Toothiana who looked equally worried.

"Well, I think you all know why I called you here- I did wrote it into your message, so I won't beat around bush much longer. It's about Jack...he-",

at that North hesitated a bit, looking very worried,

" Has...anyone heard anything from him lately? I think he somehow went...missing..."

" But- no, I haven't heard anything of him lately, but that doesn't mean he's gone missing!", Toothiana immediately said wide eyed, fluttering through the air to approach North.

"I don't really know either, my dear. But something...must be wrong. Aside from not having met any of us in the past two weeks- I haven't heard even once that it has snowed anywhere. Anywhere. I wasn't that worried about him not meeting any of us- he is young guardian after all and young spirit. Must be strange for him to suddenly have family like us, so I do not wonder he needs to be away from us sometimes, to catch breather you know? But then, after four days yetis noticed that it hasn't snowed anywhere, not at all. Jack has duty to bring snow and ice, and he has always done good that. Maybe not every day- but over two weeks now? Not to mention this strange...outburst I felt some time before-"

"So you felt it as well?", Toothiana asked, looking first at North then at Sandy who nodded, followed by a short nod from Bunny who inwardly felt his stomach turning.

"Well, was hard to miss, eh? Was pretty strong- I wanted to take a look, but was gone too fast to find source..."

Sandy, using his golden sand, first formed a ball of golden sand which exploded, followed by a tired looking, tiny figure showing Jack, both connected with a string, ending with a big question mark about his head.

" You think too it is maybe connected to him?", North asked, looking down at Sandy who nodded in reply, looking thoughtful, before turning his head to stare at Bunny.

"And what do you think, Bunny? You think our Jack is connected to that outburst? That he maybe has gotten himself in trouble again?"

The rabbit looked aside, not daring to look at North while he shortly thought, before hesitantly replying:

"I don't know. I haven't heard anything from him lately, too...but, I have this feeling..."

- he unconsciously rubbed over his chest at that part-

" That he really is in trouble this time-"

"Wait, you have feeling that Jack is in trouble?", the white haired old man said wide eyed, eying him with both surprise and confusion.

"Normally you never have feeling like me-", he patted his stomach,

"But if you do...". He stared more closely at Bunny who growled, staring back at him, his eyes narrowing slightly:

"Bunny, is there something you know-"

One second later everybody froze, all thoughts wiped aside for later, Bunny's ears perking up on alert. There was something in the air again, the faint hint of something clustering...In the next moment Bunny, like all, hissed in surprise and shock, feeling a powerful wave of _that _again. It had been just like the same time when he had felt this eruption of something going on a rampage- only that this time it was even stronger, shaking him to his core and leaving him unable to move for a short time.

Toothiana was the first to speak, her purple eyes wide: "Guys, that...that came from a city a few kilometers away from...Burgess. And...it felt like...snow...".

North stared at her before looking back at Sandy and Bunny, the same thought reflected in their eyes. A city not far away from Burgess, that snow ? outburst and Jack been missing for over two weeks now...it could only mean one thing.

"To the sleigh. NOW", North ordered sharply, everyone immediately followed. Within minutes they were all seated in the sleigh, the reindeer setting off the minute everyone was in. the tunnel of ice was crossed fast before they were in the air, North taking out a snow globe, saying: "Purgiston". The portal swallowed them, whirling them through a tunnel with dozens of colors before they landed.

"Quick, it is over there!", North impatiently called, only to get passed by Bunny immediately, the four guardians rushing to the edge of the cliff they had landed on. Only to be faced with a terrible sight. The city was covered in snow, thick and...gray, with darker sprinkles, ice glittered thick and heavy on everything where it had been able to get a hold. It didn't look right. This was not the beautiful snow scenery Jack always painted over a city like he always did. This...felt wrong, terrible...twisted in a strange way - a way which had never been part of Jack.

But, what was worse then the wrongness of this sight was the smoke which was rising up in a few parts of the city. "We have to get closer", North murmured and went down, followed by the others. It was even worse from close. They hadn't expected to see things like that. The city was in chaos, everywhere were people running through, injured or not, wrecked cars which had crashed into each other or were destroyed through other things. Ambulances were trying to get through, their helpers having to go on feet, firefighters trying to get bleeding people out of their smashed cars. And the snow was still falling over everything, silent and strange, accompanied by the deep cold and the wind howling through the streets.

"That...", Toothiana held a hand in front of her mouth, looking totally shocked, "That is...terrible! Just what did happen here?"

She whirled around to North who was about to open his mouth, interrupting him:

"North, I don't think Jack would have done this! He would _never_ do something like this, to purposely _hurt _people by creating this!"

"I agree with you Tooth, Jack is kind young spirit, he'd never do this! But, then...why? How else did this happen? Because no matter how you look at it, this snow looks like it came from him...",

the red coated man murmured, kneeling down to scoop up a bit of it, examining it.

Sandy did the same, staring at the snow before his eyes narrowed.

"But, North...this snow...if it comes from Jack, then why is it that...gray? And with these strange black sprinkles?",

Toothiana said hesitantly, staring down at the mass covering everything.

_/ It smells...unclean- but there is still a part of Jack inside.../,_ a voice inside Bunny's head whispered while he stared at the turmoil in the city, feeling numb.

Sandy looked up at North, his expression dark and his eyes worried, his golden sand slowly forming Jack, trembling and breaking down.

"You think...", North replied, voice sounding even more worried now, then he straightened up and looked at the others sharply.

"We don't know what exactly caused this to happen and why Jack did this- only thing I can come up with is loss of control. For something like this to happen, one must be so deeply disturbed and cracked open - emotionally, that is...".

The older guardian went silent, staring at the others who looked back equally worried before noticing that Bunny had been the only one that hadn't said anything at all. And that the look in his eyes was not only worry- there was something...else running far deeper then that.

"Bunny, why haven't you said anything? Do you have any idea what could have happened-"

The coat wearing guardian stopped, fully taking in the look in Bunny's eyes who twitched back slightly, continuing much slower, suspicious:

"Bunny. There something you are NOT telling us? Something important?"

The big rabbit twitched back at the stares of all three directed at him, yelling out impulsively:

"Goddammit, NO! It wasn't on purpose, I didn't do it to really _hurt _him, I would never do that! But he came down that day, and fuck, I couldn't bear it! He just smelt so, so - I had no other choice, I had to say these things -".

He immediately shut his mouth, realizing with utter horror that he had just been spitting out everything he had never wanted to tell. Oh hell. In the next second he turned around, racing away to quickly open a tunnel down to his safe warren. Only to be grabbed by two big hands and get slammed against a tree, an angry looking North right in front of him, with Sandy and Toothiana peeking over his shoulders confused and frightened with wide eyes.

"What did you do to Jack?!" the old man hissed, looking very angry.

"Let go off me!", Bunny hissed, trying to get his hands off, but North was strong, holding him in place.

"No, only if you tell us what you did. What did happen? Tell us EVERYTHING!"

"NO!"

"Then I should-"

"Shut up and let go off me!"

"NO! Tell us what you did to him first!"

"I did nothing!"

"You MUST have done something, said something! Look how city looks like! What have you done to him?! Did you even think about his feelings before you shot out one of your snark replies, huh?!"

"Feelings? FEELINGS?! Shit, you don't even know a bit about this! You don't know how I FEEL at all about this! You know NOTHING about what I FEEL about THIS!", Bunny yelled back, totally furious now.

North wanted to spit out another sharp reply at that before he stopped, his eyes staring at the Easter Bunny while something clicked in his mind. North's eyes widened and he let go of the green eyed guardian who bristled at him with narrowed eyes.

"You...Bunny, are you saying that Jack...he is...you...he is your-"

"No! NO! Don't say this word! Please...", the gray rabbit interrupted him, ears dropping on his head while he looked away.

"It...it hurts too much...". Sandy and Toothiana exchanged slightly confused looks while North stared at Bunny, his expression no longer furious but caught off guard, worried and apologetic.

"Bunny, I didn't know that- I'd never thought that Jack...that he is...to you...since when?"

"Since...shortly after everything had calmed down after Pitch's defeat", the guardian of hope replied slowly, head low.

"But what does it matter now? It is not like he could ever feel that way for me, y'know...it would've been just like with _her_...".

He paused, shortly closing his green eyes before opening them, continuing:

"You must believe me, I never wanted to hurt him like that! I would've never, I swear. But...it was just that...he came into my warren at that time...when I was...in heat...I didn't know what else to do! I was reacting so strongly to him, and I didn't know what else to do- I didn't want to, but I was so close to simply- so I spit out these- these _things, these words_...and hurt him...I'm so sorry. Never have I regretted anything more than this...".

North stared at him, thinking, before he put a warm, big hand on Bunny's shoulder, squeezing reassuringly while staring intensive at him.

"Bunny, I believe you. I know you would have never purposely hurt him like that- especially with him being your... S' was because of your heat, you aren't to blame for that, friend- it must have been terrible for you...but, Bunny...Are you sure about that? Are you sure that he would- could- never feel the same way for you?"

The rabbit laughed shortly, sounding bitter and hurt:

"Oh, please North. Don't try and give me _hope _for this, it is useless. You wanna know why I'm so damn sure about that, mate? Well, maybe because I'm a _fucking, giant bunny!_ He is a human- immortal- but still a human. It would be the same as with her! He would see me as disgusting, he would hate me and don't want to ever see me again in his life. He could never fall in love with me, a pookah, it is simply impossible."

"But, Bunny, you forgot one thing: Jack isn't like her. He is an immortal, having lived much longer and having experienced things no ordinary human could have. His personality isn't like hers, isn't made to hate someone, he is too cheerful, too mischievous, too warm... And he really likes you a lot. Why else would he visit you that often? You know, sometimes, when I watched you two...The way he looked at you sometimes...have you never noticed it? Why should he hate you for your honest feelings? "

The other male twitched back at these words, eyes widening at their truth.

"Let me guess: you never gave this love a chance, right? Instead of trying it, trying to see if he might feel the same you locked these feelings away and denied them, hurting yourself- and hurting him in the end, as a result. You didn't even dare to think about it! Sometimes, you know, you are really stupid, no? _**Vy glupyy krolik**__ !_"

The guardian of joy shook his head, sighing, then his face turned serious again.

"I'm not finished talking with you, friend. But, right now, we must find Jack, is most important now! I feel no good thing..." he stared at the gray snow, eyes narrowing before he turned to the others, saying:

"Is best if we split up as four. Now, go, search for him! Hurry- I fear for him..."

Everyone nodded, and in the next moment they jumped apart, racing in four different directions, with only one thing in mind: to find Jack. _/ I'm so sorry Jack. But I will find you, and then I will apologize for everything and explain everything. Just wait /_ Bunny thought grimly, racing through the forest at high speed. Somehow, he would find him, even if it meant to search at every goddamn place in the world- he would find him. No matter how.

Three days later.

Desperate. He felt so desperate. Three days had passed since they had met and had talked about Jack maybe having trouble. Three days since they had felt that big outburst of magic, only to find a city in a terrible state, with no winter spirit in sight. Three days since they had been searching for him frantically. He hadn't been able to find him yet, even though they had searched all kind of places. Places where he might appear because he went there often, like their own guardian homes, but of course he hadn't been there.

Or cities he had frequently visited, like Burgess where Jamie lived, but nothing. Even in the Antarctica they had found nothing, North had volunteered to go there because he was most used to that weather, but nothing. No sign of him, no foot steps, no strange snow falls. Nothing. Bunny breathed in deeply, trembling while everything built up in him before he let out a loud scream, scaring away the birds in the trees close by while he punched a tree with all his might, making it tremble with the force.

"Damn it, where are you?!", he whispered, fear and utter guilt gripping his heart, making him tremble while he cursed himself again and again.

It was all his fault. Even if North had said there might be a...chance...but now? If he hadn't fallen in love with Jack, if he hadn't desired him that much, then this would have never happened. Jack would have never gone missing like that. It would have been better if he had never fallen for him. Maybe he should have never let him that close, letting him visit that often. Giving him the unwanted opportunity to fall for the white haired guardian. Letting him wander around in the warren, letting him close enough to smell him- his goddamn, strange, alluring smell.

That smell he could still smell all over his place, although- his train of thoughts stopped midway. Frozen in his angry steps he stood there for a few seconds, re- thinking what he had just remembered. In the next second he thumped onto the ground, creating a tunnel to race through immediately, arriving in his warren a few seconds later, shortly out of breath. But he recovered quickly, already looking around strained, ears up while he closed his eyes to concentrate, his nose sniffing the air.

It should be here somewhere, just not far- there! His nose, having sniffed intensive, searching while filtering through the myriad of other smells, had caught something, the smell of ice, snow, frozen sugar...Bunny raced after it, his heart beating wildly inside is chest while he followed the trail of that familiar smell which slowly grew stronger and stronger until he reached it's source. The big rabbit stopped, his green eyes frantically wandering over where he now stood.

It wasn't that far away from his house, a bit further away which was why he didn't went here often, leaving it to his eggs though they rarely had went there lately. It was like a little valley, a small, grassy place with a small water fall ending in a pond. He had often mediated here to calm down, with the soothing sound of the water fall next to him, but he hadn't done it lately, too worked up over what had happened in his heat period with Jack.

"Where is it, where is it-", he hissed, searching for the source of that smell, in the grass, close to the water fall, even in the water fall, until his search brought him closer to the rocks standing aside. A soft wind gust stroked his nose, carrying a strong whiff of that smell and he froze, racing over to hectically search next to the rocks. He dug through the grass, already wanting to give up- when suddenly his hands touched something cold. Bunny twitched back, his green eyes widening before he leaned forward and grabbed the thing, pulling it out of it's grass hide away. He stared, stunned and speechless while his heart started to beat faster. It was an ice egg.

It was as big as two fists together, but just in the right size to hold it in both hands. He had never seen an egg that beautiful. It was made of the clearest ice he had ever seen, shining and glowing with a bluish tint. The shape was perfectly even, and the surface...it was decorated with a captivating pattern which vague reminded him of a pattern he knew. Every detail was carved in with the utmost care, not one flaw, not one mistake was visible. Every detail was beautifully made, in harmony with each other and he took a closer look, mesmerized. The middle of the egg itself was completely free of any decorating and completely see through.

He looked inside, first thinking he was just imaging it. But, no, it was still there. The inside of the egg was - alive. Flowers of purest ice bloomed, beautiful and fascinating, fading after a while, only to be reborn again in new forms. He watched, captivated, seeing how the flowers bloomed and faded.

Wanting to get a better look he tilted it a little, twitching in surprise when he saw how the flowers faded into thousand tiny snow flakes, forming a new scenery. Instead of the flower field now was a grassy hill, softly moving with an invisible breeze and – one of the corners of his mouth went up unwillingly- two little bunnies hopping over it, playing.

Another tilt, another scenery. This time it was the forest Jack lived in, with the lake, a constant shower of snow flakes over it, making it look like from a fairy tale, a sight which was strangely calming.

The pattern themselves entwined around the bottom part and the tip of the egg- he then realized why they felt familiar. They looked like his fur signs, only much more elaborated and complex, merging with other patterns which reminded him of snow flakes and their weightless dance in the sky.

Oh god. Bunny had to actually sit down, feeling shocked to his core, yet strangely numb at the same time. A memory floated up to the surface of his mind, Jack with his feelings hidden behind a blank mask, turning away from after he had yelled at him. Something glittery, which had slipped through his fingers and- it was like a slap right across his face. Jack had had the egg with him, to...give it to Bunny. It had been a present.

But what a present! Why should Jack put so much effort into a present for him, just like that? He could tell just by looking at it that it must have taken days, if not weeks to make it, to create something like this. It wasn't just some ordinary egg- if that wasn't already visible with this ever changing scenery inside. This egg was filled to the brim with magic - Jack's magic.

He didn't know why he knew this- the white haired spirit could have very well just asked North or someone else to help with the magic part. It was his own, that very wild, icy and free magic which filled him, ran through him like his blood. He could feel the flow of it like a heartbeat underneath the surface, the sound of it on that other, invisible level of magic he was able to sense.

With trembling fingers he lifted the egg, turning it and seeing a fine, delicate sentence, actually only two words: _" For Bunny"_. For a moment he just sat there, trying to come to terms with Jack having made a present like that for him- for him! But why? Why?

"_You know, sometimes, when I watched you two...The way he looked at you sometimes...have you never noticed it?"_

North's words echoed through his head and he twitched back, ears flattening against his head. The egg rolled through his fingers and fell onto the ground with a soft thud while he stood up stiffly, shaking. No. No, that couldn't be. The present, North's words- they all pointed at only one, possible explanation. Oh god. His stomach lurched and he bent over, pressing his hands against his aching temples. He had been so stupid, so blind. That day, when he had been in his heat, when Jack had come into the warren he had wanted to-

"What did I do? Just what did I do?!", he whispered, standing up slowly.

He had to tell North all about this. Had to show him the egg, and the two words on it. Only two words, and yet...And yet they said so much. Every single detail on it spoke to him, telling him what Jack had never been able to say on that day, when he had so cruelly chased him away. But now, first he had to take the egg and- The egg. Wait, where was it? Looking around frightened he noticed it laying not far away in the grass, it had rolled away a bit after having been dropped. Quickly he picked it up, immediately looking if it had gotten a crack.

His hands touched the smooth surface, checking- only to stop when they felt a gap. Bunny turned the egg, eyes widening when he saw a crack in the egg's beautiful surface, staining it. Oh no. one of his fingers slipped a little, suddenly feeling another gap- another crack. Two cracks? Why hadn't he heard it crack when the egg had dropped?

The rabbit looked more closely, green eyes narrowed. Only to twitch back, feeling his heart pick up the pace while a bad feeling crept up. There were even more then those two, smaller ones, crisscrossing from the biggest, first crack like a fine spider web. But that wasn't what made his heart beat faster in nervousness.

The cracks weren't clean. The ice was...stained, the clearness tainted with black which seemed to slowly spread further, looking unhealthy and...wrong. Twisted. Just like the snow on that city. Why hadn't he noticed it immediately? He stared at the egg, realizing that the flow of the magic inside also seemed not right, almost...disturbed. It didn't feel right, didn't feel good. This was not like Jack's magic usually felt like.

In response to the strange magic flow the scenery inside it also started to waver, withering, the bunnies, the grass. Everything disappeared, just to be replaced by wild, fast swirls of those tiny snowflakes, flickering like a broken light and strangely colored. Even when he softly nudged against it it didn't change again.

The magic inside pulsed in irregular waves, fluttering occasionally like it was about to set out for a moment. Then it started to pulse again, in those disturbed, strange waves which swelled before getting suppressed. It almost felt like...

"Jack?", he whispered, voice full of longing and guilt.

He hadn't really expected a reply, it was an egg after all, even if it had magic inside- he almost dropped it when the the egg's magic started to flare up again wildly, similar to the feeling of that outburst at the city.

"What the - ". He stared, eyes widening when he saw how the uncontrolled, fast swirls of tiny snowflakes froze for a second before rearranging, showing the blurred, unclear picture of a wide landscape completely white. The soft elevation of a...hill. Entirely made of snow. Bunny stared at it, trying to make out what place this was. His hands unconsciously gripped the egg tighter- and in the next second he stumbled backwards, overwhelmed by a flood of emotions _which weren't his._

_Pain. Fear. Panic. Tiredness. Pain. Pain. Loneliness. Exhaustion. Guilt. Fear. Exhaustion. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. - _

The rabbit stumbled, sucking in a deep breath with wide eyes. That- what he had felt just now, those were- Green eyes took a second look at the blurred scenery inside the egg. And suddenly he knew were Jack was- he could somehow...feel it. The guardian of hope stood up, quickly thumping onto the ground to summon a tunnel, racing through towards where he believed the winter spirit was, the egg in one of his pouches.

It was cold, so cold. Freezing slightly Bunny hopped around a bit, trying to get used to the temperature before he stood up, eying his surrounding. The scenery he had been able to see inside the egg had lead him here. To the Antarctica. He knew North had already searched here before him, but somehow he knew he was right. The gray furred bunny wandered over the seeming endless soft hills and, sometimes, mountains of ice and snow, looking out for a certain one. At the same time he sniffed the air, trying to catch that one smell he now wanted to find more than anything else in the world-

There. He crouched, sniffing the air once more before he raced after the scent trail, vivid ice and snow, frozen sugar...A few minutes later he stopped, staring. Right in front of him lay an opening, round and iced on the edges. There were no foot steps leading inside, but he knew- he knew Jack was here, inside, somewhere. With a last look around he slipped inside, finding him self in a big cave with holes on the ceiling, making it surprisingly bright. He wandered through it, finding himself in another, and another.

And although he was nervous, afraid and longing to finally find the younger male- he couldn't help but feel somehow mesmerized by the quiet beauty of this place. It wasn't like his warren, where everything was full of colors, this was more reserved, calmer but not any less captivating to see. The glittering of the white snow, the shining ice pillars...

/ _This...is Jack's secret hideout_ / he thought _/...he has never told us about this.../_.

The thought made him realize he was probably the first to ever see this, and both shame and guilt pulsed through him. He hadn't even asked and invaded a private place, probably the only place where Jack could be really alone if he wanted to be alone, thinking, dreaming in peace. Still thinking about it he reached the next cave- or hall, since they were all really big.

Only to froze.

Ice sculptures.

But not just of anything or anyone. He was face to face with...Sandy? Caught of guard he hastily took a few steps back, staring in wonder. There were four ice sculptures standing in the middle of the hall, carefully arranged. North. Toothiana, Sandy. And him. He stepped closer, examining them stunned. They were perfect mirror pictures of them, every detail, be it so little, was there. He could see every hair of North's beard, the fine, tiny and raw surface structure on Sandy to recreate his sand. Or the many feathers on Toothiana's lithe body. And, on him...he stepped towards his own sculpture, eying it from head to toe. It really looked exactly like him, the fur, the pattern on his forehead, arms and legs, even the arm covers and his pouches.

Everything had been made with a lot of patience, many hours spent on shaping the replicas of the guardians. He could almost see it himself how the blue eyed teenager worked on them, patiently and with loving care. He felt his heart aching and breathed out slowly.

_/ Oh Jack.../ _The thought of him reminded why he came to this place, immediately he shook himself and wandered further.

His anxiousness grew with every step he took while walking deeper and deeper, the light continuously weakened as well. Just where was he? After walking further for like fifteen minutes he entered another cave. This one was the darkest. Only one, long light ray illuminated it- it took him a few seconds to adjust. Thankfully it went rather quick- he could see damn good. The moment he could finally see enough was also the moment he realized the scent filling the air, stronger then at any other hole. He whirled around, towards it's source, finding himself caught by two brilliant blue eyes staring back at him equally shocked and wide eyed. He had found him.

"_Jack_", he breathed, feeling relief flooding his insides.

Only to freeze in the next moment when he took a closer look at the immortal male. Jack was in the furthest corner away from him, half curled up in the shadows and with his hoodie up. But even those couldn't hide the shocking sight Bunny was faced with, making his stomach turn. Jack looked...terrible. He had always been rather lean, but now he looked too thin, almost like...something was sucking out his powers, the dark blue hoodie hanging off his frame like it was three sizes too big. His whole, thin body was trembling constantly, like he was either freezing or in great pain, hands twitching and cramping again and again.

He could see his cheekbones protruding much more then before, the hollowness around his eyes. His skin which had always been pale- but a vivid, beautiful paleness- suiting his winter look, was now more gray than white. Making him look sick - really sick. The skin under his eyes was dark, visible circles under them, like he hadn't slept a day at all. The beautiful, white hair was tousled, messy and also looked strangely dirty, grayish. It stuck to his forehead with...sweat? That was definitely not a good sign- Jack had never sweated at all. _Never_.

His smell also wasn't like Bunny had grown used to sniff whenever he had visited him in his warren. His body still smelt of ice and snow, of frozen sugar and all these other things, but now...there was something else underneath it, tainting it, decaying it slowly. Like something was slowly eating him up alive from the inside, destroying him bit by bit. Creating that sick smell he had smelled at the city. But the worst...were his eyes. Those brilliant blue eyes he had thought more often about than anything else, dreamed about, haunting him...They had always been so bright, shining with mischief and fun, so alive and wild.

But now...He felt like he was looking into the eyes of someone who was dying, having seen hell itself. That light inside them wasn't there anymore. They were dull, having lost their brilliance, darkness creeping up from the edges, giving him a twisted, wrong look. And that look...they were empty, hollowed out with exhaustion- and yet, filled with so much pain and fear that they were practically overflowing. He could almost taste them in the air, making his heart ache and his skin burn. Slowly stepping closer he took him in, noticing shocked that the walls around him were all messed up, half destroyed, colored with a strange, unhealthy blackish color. Just as the ice, blackish colored.

Just like the big snow pieces laying around, nerved with this strange black mass. Just what was that? He could see how the white haired male twitched back at the sound of his name, standing up quickly before he ran away. In the next moment he flew through the air, escaping through the round window. Fuck. Bunny immediately raced after him, trying to jump through the window, but it was too far away. His patience nearly ripping he opened a tunnel to the outside, popping up just in time to see Jack, crashing onto the ground with a terrible crushing sound.

"Frostbite?!" he yelled, shocked to see how he hadn't been able to fly properly.

"Wait, where are you going- goddammit, stop, we need to talk!"

"GO AWAY!", the teenager yelled, stumbling, yet he continued to run away from the big rabbit who was horrified to see that he wasn't even able to walk properly anymore.

"Like hell I will!", he growled, determined, racing after the exhausted immortal who continued to run although it was visibly draining him of his energy.

Despite his obvious weakness Jack somehow still managed to keep a certain distance between them, making the bunny curse under his breath. He wouldn't let it go that way. Using his quickness he drove Jack into another direction, towards a v- shaped formation of big ice rocks, all the while wondering why the winter spirit didn't try to fly away. He would be cornered there, unable to escape him any longer. The moment Jack realized his plan it was already too late, Bunny was blocking his path, cutting any other possible path for him to escape.

"Stay away!", he yelled, voice already way weaker then before while backing away, his trembling hands gripping his staff tightly.

"Like hell I will!", Bunny replied fiercely, staring at him.

"Look at you, what happened to you- what I did to you! I will take you back to North's place- and don't make me force you. Please, I don't want to hurt you _again_!"

He took another step closer, pain stinging his heart when he saw how the blue eyed spirit pressed himself even further into the corner.

"Stop running away, please! I...I just want to help you-"

"I d-don't care! I don't even want to hear you, see you! Stay away from me!"

"Frostbite-"

"No! Stay away!"

"Jack-"

"Stay away from me!", the white haired male yelled before he suddenly doubled over, falling to his knees while gasping, his hands cramping around the staff before it slipped through his grip.

"Jack!", Bunny yelled, racing towards him, ready to help him up.

" I SAID STAY AWAY FROM ME!", the teenager, crooking up on the floor, yelled before crying out in pain.

The bristling of his fur was the only warning Bunny got. In the next second everything around him exploded when magic, Jack's magic ripped through the air violently, completely out of control. The wind howled out loud, whipping against his body while grayish snowflakes whirled around, mixed with sharp ice splinters which cut through his fur and skin, making him hiss in pain. The force, the sheer pressure was so giant that he was pressed to the ground, struggling to get up only to get knocked back again. He could hear the terrible sound of ice plates simply being ripped apart like it was paper, the screeching, cracking sound of massive ice rocks being destroyed, turned into powder like it was nothing.

The ground was vibrating underneath him with the force of the snow storm rampaging over him- and all he could do was to brace himself against it and endure it until it was over. After, what seemed like an eternity it slowly, slowly calmed down before disappearing completely. Only then he dared to open his eyes, pushing off the mass of snow and ice blocks having fallen close to him. His eyes widened at the destroyed surrounding around him- it looked like a battlefield, only destruction and chaos left after the blizzard.

"Frostbite?", he frantically yelled, standing up before he hissed. He was injured, though not too much it seemed. Several ice splinters had cut him badly, but not too deep, and his leg and hip hurt where a massive block of ice had crashed against him. But he could still walk, immediately going on a search for Jack, fearing that he got injured badly, picking his way through the destroyed field of ice and snow he spotted something dark and blue not far away from him. Oh thank god. "Frostbite? Frostbite!" There he was, alive and on his feet, dragging himself away from the destruction, visibly swaying from one side to the other and using his staff as a support.

Bunny's relief of seeing him unharmed and still halfway okay disappeared as quick as smoke when he saw how Jack doubled over again.

"Frostbite!", he panted, running over to him. Jack wasn't even able to voice any protest. In the next second he bend over and heavily vomited onto the ground, a disturbing, black, gooey mass, his body shaking with strain. Right after that his legs finally gave in, buckling before he fell over unconsciously, caught in time by Bunny. Easily the rabbit lifted him up, horrified at how light the teenager felt. He stared at the black mass at the ground, his heart pounding in his ears before he stared at Jack's face.

The hoodie had fallen off, letting the terrible change stand out even more. The winter spirit's face was grayish, flushed while sweat glistened on his forehead, whimpering slightly, his eyelids fluttered but didn't open. Carefully, slowly Bunny touched his forehead, twitching in shock. The white haired male was burning up practically- and yet, at the same time, he felt colder than ever before. He could feel, see it on himself, ice spread through his gray fur, clumping up before it started to melt after a few seconds. In the next second Bunny turned, creating a tunnel to jump in, clutching the unconscious teenager tight to his chest, his heart racing with an unbearable, overwhelming fear. He needed to bring him to North's place. Fast.

A few minutes later he arrived at the workshop, gently laying the unconscious teenager onto one of the big couches. It didn't took him long to find one of Toothiana's mini fairies she had let stay here as a precaution- in case someone needed to send messages fast. _"I found Jack. I'm at North's place with him now"._ All he now had to do now was to wait till the others arrived. He sat down, right next to the unconscious male, looking at his grayish colored face and the hollowness.

"I'm so sorry", he whispered, stroking his cheek with one hand, listening to the heavy breathing.

He didn't dare to move away, in case something happened to Jack, who was still trembling, occasionally arching up and writhing in pain. Luckily it didn't take the others long to arrive, North first, having used his magical orb, Sandy and Toothiana arriving almost only seconds apart. As soon as they spotted Bunny sitting next to the couch, with a small figure laying there they ran over to the two.

"Where did you find him?! What happened? Have you talked-"

"Is Jack alright?! Why is he unconscious?!"

North and Toothiana both talked at the same time, fast and excited before they took a closer look at the immortal male. Toothiana twitched back, purples eyes widening while she covered her mouth, whispering:

"Oh god..."

North's eyes darkened before he turned around, ordering clipped and sharp:

"To the infirmary. Now".

Bunny immediately scooped Jack up, carefully, quickly carrying him into the infirmary where he laid him down onto the bed. "What's wrong with him?!" North asked sharply, staring at the winter spirit's grayish face with horror, reaching out to feel his forehead.

" _**C**__**hert vozʹmi**_ ", he murmured "He's burning up. That not good. Toothiana! Quick, bring me cloth and water to cool him down!"

The tooth fairy immediately obeyed, fluttering to the cupboards along the wall, rummaging while Sandy slowly flowed over to Jack. The golden little man stared at the pale figure, eyes worried before he reached out, one small hand touching the blue eyed spirit's cheek. Bunny, having worried stroking back the younger male's sweaty hair, looked up, twitching in surprise when Sandy's eyes widened and he ripped his hand away.

"Sandy?!"

The white bearded man asked sharply, hands gripping the sheets on the bed tightly. The sandman shook his head, his sand forming signs which said to take off Jack's sweater. Bunny did as what Sandy told them, jerking his head at North who stepped closer, helping him to pull off Jack's hoodie.

"Dear god", he heard North whisper next to him, followed by a loud gasp from Toothiana behind them, the sound of glass breaking onto the floor. But neither of the guardians moved, too horrified with the sight in front of them. Without his hoodie concealing it it was visible how thin he had gotten- not to the point his ribs were visible, but it wouldn't take much more. The skin was the same as with the face, still pale like it used to be, but now with that sickly grayish tint. But that wasn't what made them stare in horror.

Not even the sight of the small scars crisscrossing his left arm and part of his upper body, already halfway healed. It was his right arm. Thin, black lines were writhing underneath the skin- his veins- looking like the winter spirit had ink pulsing through him instead of blood. They were spreading from his right hand, up his arm and already partly over his chest, right over his heart and creeping up his neck. For one, long minute nobody said a thing, then, North moved, touching the arm before he carefully forced one of Jack's eyes open, staring at the blue which was now nerved with black. Then he looked up, staring Sandy, slowly asking:

"Sandy...what is this?!"

The sandman looked terrible pained, eyes full of sadness before he formed another row of signs, letting them read it. Bunny, heart pounding in his ears, read them, sucking in a deep breath in horror while North and Toothiana gasped both next to him. The white haired man repeated, looking both horrified and debilitated:

"He got infected by nightmare...and is in coma now...he won't wake up anymore..."

No. the gray furred rabbit could feel his heart breaking, a terrible, ripping sensation while his inside cried out in pure pain. No, that couldn't be true.

"No. No! That can't be true, it can't be! There must be a way to stop this!", Bunny yelled, breaking the terrible silence in the room. North, his blue eyes full of pain, replied slowly.

"Bunny, you know is no way to stop this. You know we can't stop it from spreading inside him- that must been what has caused him to loose control. It must have been inside him all that time, laying dormant inside him...something...must have triggered this, something severe..."

The guardian of hope felt his heart getting stabbed by those words, knowing exactly the answer. It had been his fault. All his fault. Just like he had known. North, having seen how something inside Bunny's eyes broke, looked frightened, quickly saying:

"No! No Bunny! Was not your fault! You couldn't have known that! How should you known he was infected? Me didn't know, neither Sandy nor Toothiana sensed anything! What happened back then at day of heat is not your fault!"

"It is", Bunny clunky replied, ears hanging down while he stared at Jack's trembling form,

"And with this I practically killed the one I care the most for. The one I fell in love with. Isn't that hilarious? The first one after centuries I fell for rejected me and never wanted to see me again. And then, after another couple of centuries I fall in love again, with him.

Only to ruin it all by first trying to push him away, hurting him, pushing him into this state and then hearing he had feelings for me as well. After all these years, these goddamn long, lonely years, the chance of a partner, a _mate_, and of course I destroyed it! And now, all I can do is to watch him die slowly, right in front of my eyes."

North straightened up fully, eyes blazing with both pain and annoyance.

"Bunny", he sharply said, "This is not your fault! You didn't know it! I understand how you must have felt like, but this is _not_ _your_ fault! You were hurt before, so you afraid of another rejection. But don't blame yourself for this-"

"Oh yes, I do! It _is _my fault!", Bunny hissed back, ears laying flat back in anger.

"No, is not! _**Vy glupyy krolik!**_ Why are you so blind?!"

"I'm not blind! I can see exactly this is all my fault! I should have never fallen for him, fuck, I should have never allowed feelings like this at all!"

"Use brain you imbecile _**ublyudok**_ ! Is not your fault, dammit!"

"It is! So shut the fuck up now, okay?!"

"Do I have to smash your head against wall until you get it?! Is not your fault!"

"Oh yes, it is-"

"GUYS!"

In the next moment both males yowled out when two small, but very hard fists hit their head with force, making them stumble backwards before both turned, angrily staring at Toothiana. The humming bird like female stared back with an equal icy glare, not in the least intimidated before she said clipped, sharp annoyance in her normally sweet voice:

" Sandy is trying to tell us something important! If you guys are finished with trying to bash your heads over stupid things who's fault it was- not like anyone could be blamed for this- we can all listen to him now, right?!"

Bunny, sniffing shortly, nodded shortly, throwing one, last sour look at North who glared back before they all turned to Sandy. The golden colored man had an equally icy glare in his normally warm gold eyes, tapping his foot impatiently in the air. When he was sure all eyes were on him he sighed silently, starting to form his sand signs. His words were followed by another, stunned silence, everyone was staring at him with wide eyes. Bunny was the first to recover, slowly saying:

"There...is a way?"

North jumped up, grabbing Sandy who twitched in surprise:

"Quick! You must tell us!"

The sandman freed himself gently, stepping back a little before he continued to tell them. It was true that the infection inside Jack couldn't be broken- but that didn't mean he couldn't stop it in another way. The coma the winter spirit was in wasn't normal, it was forced onto him, after he hadn't been able to resist any longer. But that coma could be broken- because it was a nightmare. The young immortal was caught inside it, being suppressed and attacked.

And Sandy, as the guardians of dreams could form a connection to let another one enter this nightmare and pull Jack out. He may not be able to control the nightmares like Pitch could, but that connection was possible for him. But, whoever would go...might not come back.

"Sandy, I don't want to sound offending, but...since you're the dream master and have a lot more experience with nightmares...why can't you enter the nightmare?", the tooth fairy asked, looking at him worried.

Sandy sighed soundlessly, looking unhappy before he made signs again. He couldn't- that meant, he could very well, but to stop the infection it was needed to be 'treated' from both sides. He would suppress and heal the infection on the outside of Jack's body- but to completely erase it someone had to enter Jack's nightmare. The nightmare would have never been able to start spreading if Jack's inner shields hadn't been weakened by an big, emotional turmoil. And to destroy it, to save Jack from getting completely infected someone had to do this.

"I'll do it", Bunny said shortly, staring at Sandy and the others with a hard expression, dead serious.

North, shortly after he recovered from his words, said quickly with worry:

"Bunny, are you sure this is a good idea?! You don't know what will await you, and since you are so emotionally bond to him it might affect you more than one of us-"

"I don't care. I will go, no matter what you'll say", the guardian of hope replied unfazed, staring at North.

"I put him through all of this, I will pull him out of this mess I created. I _hurt _him, North. All what I want is to save the him, my...mate. Even if he still might reject me after all of this...".

North sighed, looking at Toothiana and Sandy who both nodded.

"Oh, fine. Sandy?"

The golden man ordered them to come all to Jack's bedside, telling them to hold him down- he would first start with the healing measures. The moment the golden sand touched the black veined arm, Jack, although unconscious, cried out terribly, voice breaking with pain while his eyes, having been closed before, snapped open, rolling back until only the white part was visible. His whole body bucked up wildly, arms and legs trashing around violently while North, Bunny and Toothiana struggled to keep him down.

After what seemed like an eternity his cries and struggling weakened until he went slack again, though he was still trembling and whimpering occasionally in pain, face scrunched up. Exhausted the guardians let go of him, Bunny immediately looked at Jack's arm. Around it there now was a shimmering, golden layer of dream sand, wrapped around like a second skin, up to the infected chest part and neck, covering them as well.

Sandy leaned back, sighing before he concentrated, eyes closing while he moved his hands. On his hands grew a golden ball of dream sand, whirling and moving softly, sounding like the whispers of the universe itself. Bunny stood up and walked over to a second bed in the infirmary, dragging it after him until it was right next to Jack's on the right side.

"I want to be next to him", was all he said at the questioning looks from Toothiana and North.

Slowly he sat down onto the bed, the soft mattress giving in under his weigh a bit before he full laid down, stretching out. The green eyed rabbit turned his head, staring at the outline of Jack's pale face, feeling his heart ache with pain. Slowly, very slowly he reached out, moving without looking, until his hand hit something smooth which felt both too hot and too cold. Carefully he took Jack's hand into his own, holding it gently but firm, ignoring the hissing sound and the short, stinging pain when his hand made contact with the infected hand.

He could feel the unsteady pulse of his heartbeat, the twisted, strange pattern of his magic pulsing deep inside him.

"I'm ready", he said aloud, staring at the ceiling, trying to relax.

North's and Toothiana's faces appeared right next to him, both looking incredible worried and nervous.

"Are you really sure about this, Bunny?", North asked.

"I can go, too- maybe this is better, like I told you-"

"No. I won't discuss with you about this. I made my decision", Bunny replied sternly but not too sharp.

The humming bird like female next to him looked at him with wet, purple eyes, quietly saying:

"Please...bring him back. Bring both of you back safely."

North nodded, stepping back a bit:

"I ask the same. Please...be careful. Stay safe".

Bunny nodded, looking up to Sandy who had watched them with a sad, but determined expression before turning his eyes onto the rabbit under him.

"_Ready?"_, his sand signs silently asked.

Another nod. In the next moment Bunny could feel how the dream sand hit him and his consciousness slowly blacked out. One, last thought crept through his mind, clear in the mist of dreaming taking over:

_/ Wait for me Jack. I'm coming for you. Just hold on /_.

His dream consciousness awakened in the next moment, shortly seeing a table full of delicious looking carrots, a cake made of carrots, beautiful painted eggs.

It only lasted for three seconds. In the next moment he felt himself get grabbed, pulled _out _before he was thrown into another direction, feeling how he passed an invisible wall-_ he was entering Jack's mind_- when something dark, twisted...evil grazed him...

Then he was falling, falling into the thick darkness.

Falling and falling and falling -

**And here it ends!**

**Well, you'll see soon enough what will happen in the next chapter...**

**And now, the usual question...**

**How did you like it? Was it good? Bad? Too OOC?**

**Any scenes I could have done better?**

**More insight of the characters?**

**Sorry, if some of you wanted more of Jack's POV, **

**though I think I got that fairly well shared, with Bunny's POV being the other half.**

**I'm curious to see what you'll write in your reviews.**

**But, just to let you know, the 4th chapter will probably take much looonger,**

**because the next thing I'll work on will be the 2. chapter for 'The spring tribute'.**

**I bet a few of you are reading this as well...**

**So, bye for now, see you in my next chapter!**

**your author Kamo-chan**

**REVIEWS PLEASE! I'll work extra hard on chapter 2 of 'The spring tribute' / chapter 4 of 'Infected' when you tell me if you read both stories. I would love to know :)**


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